Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Israel: Conscientious objector Hilel Garmi imprisoned for the fourth time

(20.09.2018) Conscientious objector Hilel Garmi from Israel has been imprisoned again for his refusal to be conscripted. Garmi was sentenced to 20 more days in military prison on Monday, 17th September. This is his fourth imprisonment and when released he will have spent 57 days in military prison in total.

As well as filling in the email alert run by War Resisters International, please send your solidarity messages to Garmi via the online form by Mesarvot here.

Ukraine: Solidarity with Ruslan Kotsaba!

Stop the renewed trial! Demand with us the immediate confirmation of Ruslan Kotsaba’s initial acquittal!

(12.02.2018) Journalist and conscientious objector Ruslan Kotsaba stands trial again in Dolyna on 19 February 2018. He is known for his pacifist appeals against the war in Eastern Ukraine. He also called for a boycott of illegal mobilisation for the so called 'anti-terrorist operation' in Ukraine.

Ruslan Kotsaba was arrested in February 2015 and was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment for obstruction of the Ukrainian armed forces. After only 524 days of pretrial detention he was released by the court of appeal in July 2016.

The country's High Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases decided on 1 June 2017 that the case would have to be reopened. The first court in charge in Bohorodchany declared itself to be biased, probably because of international pressure. Now the court in Dolyna is in charge of the case.

Update 20 February 2018: The court sent the charges to the public prosecutor in Ivano-Frankivsk on application of Ruslan's lawyer. The indictment has not yet met the rules of the code of criminal procedure, so we await the continuance of the proceedings. Ruslan Kotsaba is still free and awaiting the upcoming proceedings. He is thankful for the international support.We will keep you updated.

AWOL US soldier André Shepherd needs asylum

Solidarity eMail, donations

(22.08.2018) In late 2008, Army Specialist André Shepherd filed an application for political asylum in Germany. 

The European Court of justice published a preliminary ruling in February 2015. In November the Munich Administrative Court rejected U.S. AWOL soldier André Shepherd's application for political asylum. "The conduct of the proceedings was marked by prejudice," said Rudi Friedrich of Connection e.V. "As an observer, one could not avoid the impression that the decision was fixed in advance, and the panel of judges wanted to regard the decision and André Shepherd's application for asylum entirely separately from the reality of the war in Iraq." (...more)

André Shepherd appealed against this decision. The case is still pending.

39-year-old André Shepherd was deployed to Iraq for six months as an Apache helicopter mechanic. After returning on leave to his unit stationed in Katterbach, Bavaria, he seriously deliberated the effects of U.S. military action on the civilian population in Iraq. After some time, he decided to go AWOL, and then seek refuge in Germany. He based his application for political asylum on the European Union Qualification Directive, which is intended to protect those who refuse to participate in a war or other activities that violate international law, and who may expect persecution as a consequence.

Silent/Invisible Resistance to Turkish Military

(20.08.2018) At the beginning of March 2018, Ahmet Alcan declared his desertion from the Turkish army, becoming the only person to publicly announce their refusal to take part in the war in Afrin. Ahmet left the army just three days before his deployment. “Together with me two other soldiers were called up. It seems that they have to take part in the operation in Afrin. The soldiers don’t want to go but they are forced to.” Turkish authorities have announced that only professional soldiers have been deployed in Syria during the military operation, but human rights activists and other sources report that conscripts were also sent to Syria.