Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Join the Webinar: Conscientious objection in Turkey

Sa., November 21, 2020, 2pm UTC (3pm CET, 5pm Turkish Time)

This autumn the Conscientious Objection Association (Vicdani Ret Derneği) in Istanbul has launched a new project. The association would like to start a campaign and lobby work to gather international support for pushing the human right to conscientious objection in Turkey. The project also includes research and documentation of the particularly difficult situation of draft evaders and conscientious objectors (COs).

We invite you to participate in a webinar where we will discuss:

• The general situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey today,
• The project of the Conscientious Objection Association,
• How to develop and strengthen the campaign for COs.

Turkey: Protection from Afar

How to Support People in Turkey and Visitors to Turkey in Cases of Persecution and Arbitrary Arrest

(02.09.2020) This booklet provides insights and advice about how to respond to cases of persecution and/or threats to the safety and security of human rights defenders. It also speaks to those issues as they apply to other nonviolent activists in Turkey and to people who are not politically organized.

Protective accompaniment from afar means providing protection without being physically present in the country. It looks at what local people can do – particularly activists or friends of the persecuted. And it looks at what international supporters can do to help them.

Available: order the printed version, download pdf-file or eBook

Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urges Turkey to recognize the right of conscientious objection

(04.06.2020) The Deputies 1. recalled that these cases concern the applicants’ repetitive prosecutions and convictions for refusing to carry out compulsory military service as pacifists and conscientious objectors, as a result of which they are compelled to lead clandestine lives amounting to “civil death”, and the absence of a procedure to establish their status as conscientious objectors;

La situation des objecteurs de conscience en Turquie

(04.06.2020) Les Délégués (des Ministres) 1. rappellent que ces affaires concernent les poursuites et condamnations répétées des requérants pour refus d‘effectuer le service militaire obligatoire en tant que pacifistes et objecteurs de conscience, ce qui les contraint à mener une vie clandestine équivalant à une « mort civile », et l‘absence de procédure visant à établir leur statut d‘objecteur de conscience,