Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Ukraine suspended right to conscientious objection to military service

(05.09.2022) As the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence informed the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement a few days ago, due to martial law the right to conscientious objection existing in Ukraine has been suspended: According to the law, alternative service is a substitute for military service, which must be performed for a limited period of time. "Due to martial law, since 24.02.2022 the temporary military service in Ukraine is no longer implemented. Therefore, the implementation of alternative service is not applicable."

Azerbaijan: Alternative service "not under discussion" despite latest ECtHR decision

(05.11.2021) Despite another European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that Azerbaijan violated the human rights of two more conscientious objectors, Saadat Novruzova of the Presidential Administration’s Human Rights Protection Unit told Forum 18 that changing the law to introduce a civilian alternative to compulsory military service "is not under discussion". Azerbaijan committed to the Council of Europe to introduce an alternative service by January 2003. The 7 October ECtHR decision reminded Azerbaijan of a similar earlier decision that "calls in principle for legislative action" to satisfy "the obligations incumbent on it of assuring .. the right to benefit from the right to conscientious objection".

Despite another European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision that Azerbaijan violated the human rights of two more conscientious objectors, Saadat Novruzova of the Presidential Administration’s Human Rights Protection Unit told Forum 18 that changing the law to introduce a civilian alternative to compulsory military service "is not under discussion". Azerbaijan committed to the Council of Europe to introduce an alternative service by January 2003. The 7 October ECtHR decision reminded Azerbaijan of a similar earlier decision that "calls in principle for legislative action" to satisfy "the obligations incumbent on it of assuring .. the right to benefit from the right to conscientious objection".

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: 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.