May 15, 2024 - International Day of Conscientious Objection 

Conscientious objectors memorial stone in Tavistock Square, London. Photo: Peace Pledge Union.

National Ceremony on Tavistock Square in London

International Day of Conscientious Objection

(15.05.2024) The International Day of Conscientious Objection 2024 was marked with speeches and music before the conscientious objectors’ memorial stone in Tavistock Square, London. The ceremony paid tribute to the struggles of conscientious objectors in Israel, as well as in Russia, Ukraine, and many other countries around the world. The event was recorded and can be watched in full length on YouTube.

Olga Karatch. Photo: Connection e.V.

Words of welcome on the occasion of the International Day of Conscientious Objection

International Centre for civil initiatives “Our House” (Belarus)

(15.05.2024) Today, 15th of May, we commemorate International Conscientious Objector Day. Incredibly, there is a war going on in our region today. And I still cannot comprehend and accept it. A decade ago, if someone had asked me which scenario was more realistic: aliens attacking our planet or Russia invading Ukraine, I would have said that there was no need to think about it; of course, aliens are the more realistic scenario.

Foto: Yurii Sheliazhenko.

Words of welcome on the occasion of the International Day of Conscientious Objection

Ukrainian Pacifist Movement

(15.05.2024) Dear friends, greetings from Kyiv and my best wishes for success in your peace initiatives. Ukraine suffers from brutal criminal invasion of Putin’s army, and global solidarity for nonviolent resistance to Russian aggression is needed to end the war by peaceful means [...]. I have no good news from Ukraine for you. The number of Ukrainian kids killed by the Kremlin’s war exceeded half a thousand.