Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Digest April 2024

Newsletter

(04.06.2024) My dears, hello to everyone!
April was marked by the beginning of another conscription campaign in Russia and reforms of the military enlistment system in Moscow. The Russian government promised and finally adopted the latest regulatory act on the electronic registry of military service and electronic summons: with all these rules, we are facing a rather difficult end of the year. In Armenia, there was the second abduction of a Russian serviceman in five months. We believe
that it was carried out by the Russian military police and we are actively monitoring
the situation. And our organisation, together with colleagues from Ukraine and Belarus,
was awarded the Peace Prize by IPB! Enjoy reading!

Conscientious objection to military service

Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

(21.05.2024) In the present report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides recommendations on legal and policy frameworks to uphold human rights in the context of conscientious objection to military service in accordance with States’ obligations under international human rights law and applicable international human rights standards. The Office addresses, in particular, the recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service in domestic law, the application procedures, genuine alternatives to military service, the promotion of conscientious objection to military service and the processing and recognition of the refugee status of conscientious objectors.

Conscientious Objection in Turkey

Description and contents of the booklet

(15.05.2021) In Turkey, the first conscientious objectors publicly declared their objections in the early 1990s and stood up against war, the military and compulsory service. In the meantime, far more than 1,000 conscripts have declared their conscientious objections. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands have evaded military service, using other ways or hiding. Faced with prosecution, several hundred have sought asylum abroad. By now Turkey is the only member state in the Council of Europe that has not recognised the right to conscientious objection to military service.

This booklet is published 30 years after the first public declarations of conscientious objection. It takes stock, describes the solidarity work for the conscientious objection movement from abroad and gives a voice to conscientious objectors, some of whom were active in Turkey for years and have now gone into exile.

A publication to the International Day of Conscientious Objection in a quadrilingual online edition.

Download: https://www.Connection-eV.org/pdfs/conscientious-objection-turkey-2021.pdf

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