A Call to Safeguard the Right to Refuse to Kill and Resist Wars
Read the full report here or browse by country.
EBCO’s 2024 Annual Report on Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Europe is released at a time of escalating global militarisation. From the revival of conscription in Europe to the devastating impacts of ongoing wars, the protection and empowerment of conscientious objectors is more urgent than ever.
Russia and Ukraine are called to release prisoners of conscience. Human rights defenders also demand to protect human right to conscientious objection to military service in wartime and allow the objectors to serve the society peacefully: Russia and Ukraine are called to release prisoners of conscience
It is vital for common security to protect right to refuse to kill as democratic restraint on ability of anarchic sovereign governments to wage wars (remember how conscientious objectors contributed to end of the Vietnam war – I hope it might be repeated in Russia!), and with growing noize and political action to reintroduce conscription in Europe and to kick out draft dodging refugees for a pleasure of their domestic bloodthirsty generals lacking cannon fodder, I think the last thing the IPB family would like to see in Europe next years is “busification” (forced detention on streets using minibuses, like in Ukraine) of youth and men kicking and screaming (with purpose of conscription to army) and refugees (with purpose of deportation to warmaking states to be forcibly conscripted, like the DHS does in the U.S.
Conscientious objection to military service is a fundamental human right which must be protected. It is inherent in the human right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, stated in art. 18 of the Human Rights Declaration, in art. 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in art. 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – and, as defined by the European Youth Forum and the UN 75 Human Rights Declaration, is a youth right.
EBCO remains actively engaged in the international #ObjectWarCampaign, supporting Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian conscientious objectors and advocating for their protection and asylum in EU countries. It calls on the Russian Federation to respect the right to conscientious objection, end conscription and military propaganda, demilitarize education in occupied Ukrainian territories, and pursue full demilitarization. EBCO also urges Ukraine to uphold this right during wartime and to cease the persecution of objectors and their supporters, including IPB Council Member and EBCO Board member Yurii Sheliazhenko.
The report concludes with concrete recommendations: full recognition of the human right to conscientious objection to military service in all countries, genuine civilian alternative service, asylum and protection for all objectors in danger of being persecuted or forced to participate in armed conflict, and alignment of national laws with international human rights standards. Furthermore, the report recommends adequate arrangements for conscientious objectors and nonviolent action in countries’ institutional and legal preparations for any kind of emergencies and responses to perceived threats for peace. It also calls to prevent militarization of curricula and support peace education.
Releasing this report, EBCO reiterates that while this report focuses on the Council of Europe region, we also stand in solidarity with all prisoners of conscience, nonviolent resisters to war and militarization around the world, including in Israel/Palestine, Myanmar, Sudan, Colombia and elsewhere that fall outside the geographical scope of this report.
Please check these links too for further references: