Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Eritrean Armed Forces Fighting Inside Tigray

Uploaded 26.11.2020

(24.11.2020) Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRCE) has received credible evidence that the Eritrean Armed forces including conscripts, have been sent to the Tigray region of Ethiopia and are engaged in heavy fighting with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Forces (TPLF), alongside the Ethiopian armed forces.

We unreservedly condemn the aggressive intervention of Eritrean armed forces in Tigray, a province in an independent nation. There can be no justification for this unwarranted interference, and the resultant and unnecessary deaths of soldiers on both sides. We call upon Eritrea to withdraw its forces from Tigray immediately.

Israeli conscientious objector Hallel Rabin leaves prison

Uploaded 26.11.2020

(26.11.2020) Hallel Rabin is released following 56 days in detention after an army board finally accepted that her pacifism was sincere and not driven by ’political considerations’

Standing at the gate of an army jail after being detained for refusing mandatory military service, 19-year-old conscientious objector Hallel Rabin said she was "the happiest person in the world". "My lawyer called me this morning and told me, ’you’re free’," she said.

Syria: ECJ strengthen conscientious objectors in asylum cases

Uploaded 20.11.2020

(19.11.2020) The European Court of Justice decided, that in the context of the civil war in Syria, there is a strong presumption that refusal to perform military service there is connected to a reason which may give rise to entitlement to recognition as a refugee

In a number of situations, such refusal is an expression of political opinions or of religious beliefs, or is motivated by membership of a particular social group.

Turkmenistan: 24th conscientious objector jailed since 2018

Uploaded 19.11.2020

(11.09.2020) A court in Mary Region jailed 18-year-old Myrat Orazgeldiyev for one year on 3 September, the 24th Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector to military service to be imprisoned since January 2018. Eleven – including Orazgeldiyev – are now jailed, eight of them at the harsh Seydi Labour Camp, where a former prisoner of conscience described conditions as "inhuman". All 24 young men offered to do an alternative civilian service, but none exists.