Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

International Conscientious Objection Day

Solidarity with conscientious objectors in Turkey

(09.04.2021) Every year on 15th May, the International Conscientious Objection Day, we organise solidarity with conscientious objectors (COs) and draw attention to their resistance to war. This year we have a particular focus on Turkey – working closely with Conscientious Objection Association (Vicdani Ret Derneği).

Turkey: Conscientious Objection Bulletin

January - February 2021

(08.03.2021) In the second issue of the Conscientious Objection Bulletin, you will find two statements released by our association in January and February; information about the applications for information we received from our followers regarding military service; up-to-date information on the rights violations experienced by conscientious objectors during January and February; information about the cases followed by VR-DER in January and February. You will also find a number of recent declarations of conscientious objection.

If you want to get information about the monitoring work carried out by VRDER, you can contact us on our website and social media accounts.

Turkey: Prosecution of Conscientious Objectors

(01.03.2021) In the following we would like to give an overview of the current situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey. Furthermore we have added some information on the issue of recognition of asylum applications made by conscientious objectors from Turkey.

Since the early 1990s about 1,000 conscripts have declared their conscientious objection to military service. Hundreds of thousands have evaded military service using other ways or hiding. Several hundred have sought asylum abroad because of facing prosecution.

South Korea: (2nd LD) Conscientious objector acquitted after refusing reservist training for nonreligious reason

(25.02.2021) In the first ruling of its kind, South Korea’s top court on Thursday upheld lower courts’ acquittal of a man charged with refusing to fulfill mandatory reservist duty for nonreligious reasons. The Supreme Court approved lower courts’ verdicts of not guilty for the man indicted for violating the Homeland Reserve Forces Act after refusing to take part in his reserve forces training on grounds of his belief of nonviolence