Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Ukraine: Drop all charges against Vitaly Alekseenko immediately

Conscientious objector goes to prison

(18.01.2023) In Ukraine, on 16 January 2023, Ivano-Frankivsk Appeal Court rejected the appeal of 46-year-old Christian Vitaly Alekseenko against his conviction for refusing call up to the military on conscientious grounds. "I told the court I agree that I have broken the law of Ukraine," Alekseenko told Forum 18, "but I am not guilty under the law of God." When he gets the written verdict, which he expects on 19 January, the one-year imprisonment sentence will go into force and he expects to be taken to prison immediately afterwards.

Show your solidarity with conscientious objectors and deserters!

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Ask the European Union with us:

- Grant protection and asylum to deserters and conscientious objectors from Belarus and the Russian Federation!

- Urge the Ukrainian government to stop persecuting conscientious objectors to military service and to guarantee them a full right to conscientious objection!

- Open the borders to those who oppose war at great personal risk in their country!

Link to petition

Why is this important? For more than half a year, the Russian Federation has been waging a war of aggression in Ukraine, with devastating consequences. There seems to be no end in sight. Yet we know that men and women on all sides are evading the crimes of war. Tens of thousands are fleeing the Russian Federation and Belarus to avoid being recruited for the war. Thousands are leaving Ukraine because they see their human right to conscientious objection in danger. They are all our hope for overcoming violence.

This petition is run by Connection e.V., International Fellowship of Reconciliation, European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and War Resisters’ International

Russia – No legal provision for alternative civilian service during mobilisation

(19.12.2022) In Zeiten der Mobilisierung gibt es keine rechtlichen oder praktischen Regelungen für den Alternativen Dienst, obwohl die Verfassung dieses Recht allen Bürgern garantiert. Das hat dazu geführt, dass die Rekrutierungsbüros Anträge auf Alternativen Dienst ablehnen und Kriegsdienstverweigerer zu Militäreinheiten schicken. Darüber hinaus ermöglicht eine Gesetzesänderung vom November 2022, dass Personen, die sich bereits im Alternativen Dienst befinden, innerhalb der Streitkräfte in einem unbewaffneten Dienst eingesetzt werden können. „Mit dieser Gesetzesänderung wird der Alternative Dienst als Alternative zum Militärdienst während einer Mobilisierung faktisch abgeschafft“, so die Anwältin Valeriya Vetoshkina.

The Israeli military imprisoned me for 10 days for staying true to my moral compass

(23.10.2022) Sliman Abu Ruken, a 19 years old Druze enlistment refuser, had spent 10 days in military prison. With support by the Mesarvot network he received his military exemption three weeks ago. This is his statement: