Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Pacifists pledge to resist national service, if scheme is implemented

Press Release

(27.05.2024) British pacifists have said they will refuse to join or in any way support the military under the Tories’ plans to reintroduce national service, if the scheme is ever implemented. In the first major announcement of his election campaign, Rishi Sunak said a future Tory government would introduce the scheme in 2025, forcing 18-year-olds either to join the military for 12 months full-time or to work one weekend per month in their community with organisations such as fire, police and the NHS.

Kriegsdienstgegner-Verband kündigt Widerstand gegen Zwangsdienst an

(23.05.2024) Die IDK lehnt die Wiedereinführung der Wehrpflicht, nunmehr erweitert als Zwangsdienst für alle Angehörigen einer bestimmten Altersgruppe, bedingungslos ab. Wir betrachten jede Form von Zwangsdienst als Ausdruck einer zunehmenden Militarisierung der Gesellschaft, in deren Folge das Leben der Bürger*innen immer mehr den Interessen und Bedürfnissen des militärischen Machtapparats unterworfen wird.

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.

A refuser wave is on the way

Newsletter of the Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN)

(19.05.2024) Dear all, Mattan here. I’m the Executive Director of Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN) and an Israeli refuser. Over the last few weeks, there’s been a noticeable shift in Israeli public sentiment and we’ve received signs indicating the emergence of a new wave of refusal. Increasingly, Israelis view the ongoing fighting not merely as a matter of self-defense aimed at bringing hostages home, but rather as an enduring political war with a right-wing agenda.