Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

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.

Turkmenistan: Another second-time jailing, four more imminent?

(15.01.2021) Conscientious objectors increasingly face second prosecutions for continuing to refuse compulsory military service. On 11 January, a court in Lebap Region sentenced 20-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Ruslan Artykmuradov to two years in a strict regime labour camp, his second jailing on the same charges. On 30 December 2020, Danev District Prosecutor’s Office informed four other Jehovah’s Witnesses they face second prosecutions. All had offered to do an alternative, civilian service.

U.S. AWOL Soldier André Shepherd’s Application for Political Asylum

A Chronology

„We condemn politically motivated prosecution of Ruslan Kotsaba”

Statement by Ukrainian Pacifist Movement

(08.12.2020) 10 December 2020, the court in Kolomyya scheduled hearings in a criminal case of Ruslan Kotsaba, the journalist and pacifist who published in 2015 video blog calling to boycott mobilization for armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Kotsaba was accused of treason and obstructing military operations, crimes punishable from 5 to 15 years of imprisonment, arrested, and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.