Advocacy Newsletter
June 2024
(22.07.2024) Friends, hello everyone! This is Artem Klyga from the Movement of Conscientious Objectors. The FSB, the Russian special service, is very eager to recruit conscripts into their service on their own. To do this, they are making changes to the bylaws. Starting in September, Russian schools will have a lesson with elements of military training, which could negatively affect conscientious objectors to military service. Good news from South Korea: they have granted asylum to the first conscientious objector from Russia. And some good news from Russia: we received some positive decisions from the Russian court. Enjoy reading!
We helped a conscript to appeal the draft commission’s decision
Draft offices actively resist the replacement of military service with alternative civilian service (ACS), but we help enforce this constitutional right through the courts. In June, we shared the story of Arseniy, who was denied the replacement of military service with ACS by the draft office. He and his mother were not allowed to attend the draft commission meeting and were subsequently informed that a refusal decision had already been made. We assisted the conscientious objector in writing a lawsuit and filing it with the district court. Arseniy’s mother informed us that the draft office tried to delay the process, did not provide the court with the conscript’s personal file, and ultimately hindered the opportunity for the plaintiff’s witnesses to be heard in court. The court sided with the conscript, overturned the draft commission’s decision, and ordered the draft office to reconsider the issue of replacing military service with alternative civilian service.
South Korea granted asylum to a conscientious objector from Russia for the first time
The Seoul Administrative Court upheld the complaint of a Russian conscientious objector against the denial of asylum. In 2022, he left Russia to avoid being conscripted due to mobilisation and possible criminal prosecution for his anti-war stance. However, the migration authorities rejected the citizen’s application. He appealed this decision in court, raising the question: is refusal of mobilisation a political statement? Considering the fact that the Russian had published articles against the war in Ukraine on social media and attended anti-war protests, the court ruled that his refusal to be conscripted was an expression of political views. The court also took into account recent changes in Russian legislation, which complicated the situation for both conscientious objectors and military personnel.
The FSB is receiving new powers to recruit conscripts into its special service
In December 2023, Russia officially approved the possibility of conscription service in the FSB. The deputies who passed the new law claim that service in the FSB will be conducted in the department for state border protection. Consequently, conscripts can now be sent directly to serve at Russia’s borders, including the border with Ukraine, where active combat operations are taking place.
In 2024, the special service began receiving new powers related to the selection of conscripts for compulsory military service. Now the FSB will be able to access conscripts’ personal files in advance and independently make appointments, meaning they can choose which conscripts they want to recruit into their service. Notably, neither the Ministry of Defense nor military offices will have any way to influence this process.
A new lesson "Basics of Safety and Homeland Protection" will appear in Russian schools
The main danger of this lesson is that its mandatory attendance could close the possibility in the future of replacing military service with alternative civilian service. According to the Ministry of Education’s plan, Russian schoolchildren will have to study the provisions of general military regulations, form knowledge about elements of initial military training, master safety requirements when handling firearms, and form ideas about the use of drones.
This lesson significantly expands the already existing lesson in Russia, within which schoolchildren study the basics of safety and protection of people in dangerous and emergency situations. However, currently, no attention is paid to military training in this lesson. Given that the school is the organisation that can provide a recommendation for a conscript to replace military service with alternative civilian service, attending this lesson may not be in the future conscript’s favour.
The Movement of Conscientious Objectors Russia (MCO): Advocacy Newsletter June, 22.07.2024.
Keywords: ⇒ Antimilitarism ⇒ Conscientious Objection ⇒ Conscription ⇒ Military ⇒ Peace Movement ⇒ Russia ⇒ War