Take Action: Celebrating International Conscientious Objection Day in times of Covid-19

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(30.03.2020) Dear all,

We are facing worrying and unusual times these days. We are considering ways to celebrate International Conscientious Objection Day on 15th May 2020. War Resisters’ International and Connection e.V. are working together on an idea.

Focus in 2020: We propose to focus on Conscientious Objection and Asylum this year. A lot of the present refugees have to leave their countries because of forced recruitment in countries  which don’t recognise the right to conscientious objection. However, escaping from war and forced recruitment to the military is normally not seen as a reason to gain asylum. We say: protecting people who decide not to go to war would be an important and necessary step to struggle against war and oppression!

Proposed action: Because of the restrictions we are facing regarding the coronavirus situation, we would like to propose the following action:

War Resisters’ International and Connection e.V. have opened a YouTube channel. On the International Conscientious Objection Day, we would like to post as many personal contributions as possible on this channel and circulate them on social media with the hashtag #CODay2020. What we would need is:

1. A short video (not longer than 2.5 minutes) with a personal statement or personal message

2. As an idea you could answer the following three questions:

                a. Why are you a conscientious objector?

                b. What happened after you made the decision?

                c. Where are you and what are you doing now?

Similar questions could be used by people who are supporters and would like to share a contribution as well.

3. We welcome contributions in any language. Together with your videos, if it’s in a language other than English, we’d need a transcription of your contribution and we might need your support for translation. If you plan to make a contribution, we would appreciate if you contact us as early as possible.

4. The video should have a resolution of at least 640x360 (360p)

5. Please keep in mind that all photos and music must be copyright free.

6. If you’re planning to send a video, please contact us via info(at)wri-org.org or office(at)Connection-eV.org with the subject line “CO Day 2020”, so that we can communicate the best way to receive your videos. In your email, please tell us where you are from and where you are based.

Planned announcement: We are preparing an announcement to publish all video contributions on May 15th. In the title, we are going to use a quote and the country where are you coming from / where you are staying.

Connection e.V. and War Resisters’ International: News, March 30, 2020

Keywords:    ⇒ Action Reports   ⇒ Connection e.V. - About Us   ⇒ Conscientious Objection   ⇒ International   ⇒ Project Reports