News from our work
Spring 2024
Bremen Peace Prize
In March 2024, we were informed that Connection e.V. together with Maria Biedrawa had been awarded the Bremen International Peace Prize by the foundation die schwelle. We feel honored to receive this Peace Prize and understand it as an award for our international work, especially of the #ObjectWarCampaign that was launched shortly after the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Die schwelle announed thazt "from 36 nominations of impressive peace work in many different countries, two winners were selected for this year’s Bremen International Peace Prize. A big thank you to everyone who nominated these exciting people and organizations." The award ceremony will take place on May 31 at Bremen City Hall: https://www. dieschwelle.de/friedenspreis-2024.
Maria Biedrawa
For more than 20 years, Maria Biedrawa, a social education worker, has been active in various contexts and countries on the African continent, e.g. in the Central African Republic and South Sudan. She works mainly voluntarily and with a high level of personal commitment. Multiple conflicts and armed clashes leave the civilian population with diverse and complex traumas. Maria Biedrawa helps those affected with counseling and uses her work to foster new cooperation and support social coexistence.
Connection e.V. at the United Nations and the Council of Europe
In May 2024, Zaira Zafarana is going to take up her work for Connection e.V. as a consultant for international affairs. She will advocate for the human right to conscientious objection at the United Nations in Geneva, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. Her work will be sponsored by a generous grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Fund in the UK. We are delighted to announce that Connection e.V. is now able to improve its campaign for the human right to conscientious objection and asylum for conscientious objectors. International institutions, such as the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Council of Europe, open up new options for advocating for people at risk of persecution. We are happy to receive suggestions and proposals from other organizations regarding our future work at the UN and European institutions.
Actions on the second anniversary of the start of the war
More than two years ago, Russia launched a war against Ukraine. To commemorate and protest this occasion, people from all over Germany held actions and events in various cities on February 24, 2024. Members of Connection e.V. participated in actions in Bonn, Stuttgart, and Göttingen. Prioir to the action day, we published a video as well as interviews with the brothers Danil and Vladimir, both conscientious objectors from Russia who went public in December and January. On the day of action, Rudi Friedrich reported on the #ObjectWarCampaign, and Artyom Klyga from the Movement for Conscientious Objection Russia talked about the work of the organization and the current situation of Russian conscientious objectors. We were able, once again, to draw attention to the urgently needed support of conscientious objectors and deserters and created extensive media coverage on this topic. All contributions can be found on the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RefusetoKill.
Rejections in asylum procedures
We increasingly receive rejections in the asylum procedures of conscientious objectors. This is, unfortunately, very depressing news and concerns the situation of Russian conscientious objectors in Germany. It is often declared that it is not "considerably likely" that they will be conscripted. Hence, they receive asylum rejections, even if they have been summoned by the military. We have also been receiving asylum rejections of Turkish-Kurdish conscientious objectors who publicly expressed their conscientious objection but were not considered in need of protection by the German state. This is indeed very disappointing and shows that both, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the courts, take ever tougher actions against refugees and by that, deny any likelihood of persecution. Those affected are shocked by these decisions. We are too and, of course, try to support them in their ongoing proceedings and try to open up other prospects once their asylum application is rejected.
Discussion about compulsory service
Now and then – and since the start of the war in Ukraine in particular – there have been calls for the reintroduction of compulsory military service or compulsory service for men and women In Germany. Franz Nadler wrote three articles on the subject for the latest issue of graswurzelrevolution (April 488). His first text provides an overview of the Reich Labor Service, while the second focuses on women in the Nazi state and their involvement in the war at the time. The third analyzes the current discussion about compulsory service, which is particularly important in the context of the current plans to reintroduce compulsory military service: https://www.graswurzel.net/gwr/category/ausgaben/488-april-2024/ (in German only).
Connection e.V.: News from our work – Spring 2024. 30.04.2024. This article was published in: Connection e.V. (ed.): Newsletter "KDV im Krieg", May 2024, issue 02/2024.
Keywords: ⇒ Action Reports ⇒ Germany ⇒ International ⇒ Newsletter »KDV im Krieg« ⇒ Project Reports