Comment

Call to Action Week for Conscientious Objectors in December 2023

Protection and asylum for all from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who refuse military service

IFOR is joining more than 30 organisations from Europe in calling for weeks of action to protect all those who refuse military service in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine from December 4, 2023 to the International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2023 states:

War is a crime against humanity. We condemn Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, which is contrary to international law and has already led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries and millions of refugees.

Many people from Russia and Belarus, but also from Ukraine, who are threatened with military service, try to evade it: They do not want to kill other people and they do not want to die in this war. Soldiers at the front want to lay down their weapons in the face of the horror. They all face repression and imprisonment, in Belarus even the death penalty. But: Conscientious objection is an internationally recognized human right!

  • We demand from the governments of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine: Stop the persecution of conscientious objectors and deserters immediately!

  • We demand from the EU: Open the borders! Give opponents of war the option to enter the European Union! Protect conscientious objectors and deserters from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and give them asylum!

For this purpose, we encourage you to organize and join rallies and demonstrations in front of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian embassies as well as EU representations, vigils in front of deserter monuments and other creative actions at different locations in the week before the “International Human Rights Day” – from December 4 to 10, 2023. In doing so, we emphasize: conscientious objection is a human right!

Comment

Comment

IFOR endorses Joint Interfaith Statement to the TPNW 2MSP

IFOR ensdorses the following Joint Interfaith Statement to the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Descargar la declaración conjunta en español abajo

We gather as people of faith – religious leaders, practitioners, believers of many different traditions – to affirm with one voice our opposition to nuclear weapons and our absolute belief that a world without nuclear weapons is not only possible but that a nuclear-free future is already being made.

We take great joy in the existence of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and take this occasion of the Second Meeting of States Parties to celebrate how the TPNW and its supporters worldwide have found the courage, determination and imagination to work for a world of justice and equality.

We live on a beautiful planet with the splendor of forests, mountains, rivers and oceans that we share with other creatures. Yet this planet and all who dwell here are threatened by the terror of nuclear weapons. It is our responsibility as people of faith to redirect the moral outrage of the world towards the re-making of that which is good. In this light, we celebrate the recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment by the UN General Assembly last year, and send our prayers for successful outcomes of COP28, which also starts during the same week as this meeting.

We honor the ancestors who have gone before us – the global hibakusha who suffered the horrors of nuclear weapons testing and use as well as the generations of diplomats, religious leaders, activists, researchers, artists and advocates – who dedicated their lives to making the world a safer place. Being together in this moment, with this landmark piece of international law and with the determination to universalize it, we know that this is only possible because of the work that went before us. At the same time, we are encouraged by the surge in a new generation of young leaders who have the courage, brilliance and hope to carry this work forward into the future. We work with integrity and unfailing determination because we owe so much to both the past and the future.

Our religious traditions are vast and represent many millions of people, each trying to pursue lives of meaning and goodness in a world that has never felt more threatened with catastrophe. Our faith that humanity is meant for peace, wellness, joy and love remains unwavering even as we see with clarity the devastation of the planet and our fellow human beings who are threatened globally by the double violence of climate catastrophe and rampant militarism. Nuclear weapons represent the worst of both of those threats – an evil unleashed upon this beloved planet with the power to wipe out everything that we hold most dear – our water, our air, our land, and each other.

Even as we call on all States to join the TPNW, we take seriously our role as faith communities to denounce nuclear deterrence as a false ideology which violates our most sacred commitments. We not only decry any use of nuclear weapons, we oppose wholeheartedly the preparations for and threats to use nuclear weapons as immoral. We urge States Parties at this meeting to move forward with practical commitments to provide victim assistance and environmental remediation under Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty. We commit to doing our part to care for those members of our community who have suffered the direct impacts of nuclear weapons and to act as good stewards to remediate the land and waters which have been harmed.

We celebrate the inclusivity of the TPNW with its attention towards the intersectional harms of nuclear weapons. Our faith communities take seriously our unique commitments to the Indigenous peoples who have been most affected by these weapons of utter destruction. As our faiths direct us to exercise special love and care for the people who are most marginalized, we recognize in the treaty a meaningful avenue to addressing the violence of the past and committing to a more just future.

As diplomats, policy makers, advocates and activists gather in New York City this week, we know their work is supported by a much larger circle of people around the world who believe that another world without nuclear weapons is possible and who will continue to work, write, march, pray, chant, meditate and speak that new world into being. Nuclear weapons can never provide nourishment for our bodies, courage for our hearts, creativity for our minds or inspiration for our souls. Nuclear weapons can only annihilate, threaten and destroy everything that gives our lives meaning. Nuclear weapons drain financial resources away from addressing poverty, racism, illness and premature death. And yet, we remain resilient and vibrant in the face of their obliteration, refusing to let nuclear ideology also steal our hope, our vision and our boldness in demanding justice and a right to live in peace for all people.

There is so much work to be done. We commit, as people of faith, to working to address the roots of violence in our own religious traditions that have justified nuclear violence or that have chosen to ignore the greed and aggression that undergirds nuclear ideology. We can and will weave together a deepening of inner contemplation and reckoning that strengthens us to confront and survive threats to our collective security. We know that there is no true safety, security and peace for any of us until there is safety, security and peace for all of us.

We recognize the urgency of this moment and what is at stake for all of us – the beloved natural world and the beloved community of humanity. Our fates are intertwined and we cannot ignore the resounding threats that confront us. We feel acute fear and anxiety as an ever-present menace as we contemplate our shared future. This fear is not unique to this moment in time. Let us draw courage from the audacity and vision of past struggles for justice, taking comfort in the wisdom that immense challenges always feel impossible until they are done.

November 2023

 

This statement has been endorsed by more that 115 organizations (cf. the list in the attached document).

Click here to download the statement in English.

Declaración Conjunta intereligiosa.

Comment

Comment

IFOR at the TPNW 2MSP in New York

On Monday November 27, during the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), John KIM, IFOR representative at UN in New York, will participate to a side event on A Call for Justice: Recent Status of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims and the People's Tribunal

Speakers

Kee-youl Lee, first generation victim

Jeong-soon Han, second generation victim

Hayoung Bak, SPARK

Guest Speakers

Sean Wiliam Conner, Executive Director of IPB

Akira Kawasaki, Executive Committee Member of Peace Boat

John Kim, NGO Rep. to UN for IFOR

Colleen Moore, Church and Society with the United Methodist Church

Nodutdol

Outline : 

The US committed an inhumane war crime by dropping nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. One lesser-known fact is that 40,000 Koreans who had been forcibly conscripted as laborers in Japan, lost their lives due to these bombings.

Since then, Korean survivors and their supporters have taken activism to the streets, demanding justice. In 2019, they decided to initiate a People's Tribunal to build international legal grounds and political legitimacy, paving the way for future legal action against the US.

During this event, we will listen to testimonies from Korean atomic bomb victims and provide an update on the current status of the International People’s Tribunal to hold the US accountable for dropping Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We will also screen a short film historicizing the struggles of Korean victims.

Co-organizers

Korean Atomic Bomb Victims

Solidarity of Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK)

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) 

Asia Citizen's Network for Peace

Comment

Comment

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN: PROTECTION AND ASYLUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER OLGA KARATCH

August 23rd 2023

Following the denial of political asylum by the Lithuanian authorities for the Belarusian peacebuilder and human rights defender Olga Karatch (Volha Karach), the international campaign #protection4olga has just been launched to demand protection and asylum for the director of the organisation ‘Our House‘. She has been fighting for human rights in Belarus for years, including the right to conscientious objection to military service, and is therefore persecuted and faces capital punishment in her country of origin, where she has been labelled a ‘terrorist’ by the regime.

On 18 August 2023, Lithuania denied her political asylum, calling Olga Karatch a ‘person who represents a threat to the national security of the Republic of Lithuania’. She was however granted a one-year temporary residence in the country, probably due to international letters of concerns that some politicians and heads of foundations had written to the authorities and to Lithuanian Ambassadors in different countries. But this status does not give her any safety regarding her status – authorities could at any time renege this decision and decide to deport her.

For that reason, we have started an International Campaign for the immediate protection of the human rights defender and peacebuilder Olga Karatch.

The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted in 1998 acknowledges ‘the valuable work of individuals, groups and associations in contributing to the effective elimination of all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of peoples and individuals’.

Olga Karatch, through the organisation she leads, ‘Our House’, has numerous activities to her credit in monitoring and defending human rights in Belarus and Belarusian citizens who have fled to other countries – such as Lithuania – and for this reason her organization was also chosen by the International Peace Bureau to be nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, together with the Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors and the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement.

States have an obligation to protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens, and, especially for human rights defenders who ‘frequently face threats and harassment and suffer insecurity’ ‘to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, at both the local and the national levels, including in times of armed conflict and peacebuilding’, as stated in UN General Assembly resolution 66/164.

We express our deep concern that ‘in some instances, national security and counter-terrorism legislation and other measures, such as laws regulating civil society organizations, have been misused to target human rights defenders or have hindered their work and endangered their safety in a manner contrary to international law’, as stated in UN Human Rights Council Resolution 22/6 of 2013 on the protection of human rights defenders, which commits all states to protect and not criminalise those who work to defend human rights

  • Therefore, we appeal to the highest Lithuanian authorities, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to respect international standards and provide protection and asylum for the Belarussian human rights defender Olga Karatch, who has taken refuge in Lithuania.

  • Lithuania is also a member of the European Union. We therefore also appeal to the European institutions and the EU Missions (Embassies and Consulates of EU Member States and European Commission Delegations) which, as stated in the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, should support and protect human rights defenders.

  • We also call on our national governments to take action to ensure that the protection of human rights defenders is guaranteed always and everywhere.

  • We call upon all civil society, from individual citizens to journalists and institutional representatives across Europe to take action in defence of human rights and those who defend them.

A sample letter to be sent to Lithuanian authorities can be found below. You are more than welcome to use it and properly advocate and support human rights defenders Olga Karatch.

For more information contact: ask@news.house

Draft letter:

To:         President Gitanas Nausėda, e-mail: kanceliarija@president.lt or online form at https://www.lrp.lt/en/institution/letter-to-the-president/21930

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė LRV, e-mail: kanceliarija@lrv.lt

Speaker of Lithuanian Parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, e-mail: viktorija.cmilyte@lrs.lt

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis, e-mail: minister@urm.lt

Сc:          Our House, e-mail: info@nash-dom.info

 

Dear President, dear Prime Minister, dear Speaker of Lithuanian Parliament, dear Minister of Foreign Affairs,

I am writing to you because I am concerned about the safety and security of Ms Olga Karatch (Volha Karatch), a peacebuilder and human rights defender from Belarus who has sought refuge in your country. Recently, on the 18th of August, the Lithuanian Immigration Authorities rejected her application for political asylum.

Ms Olga Karatch is part of the Belarusian opposition and had to leave her home country in 2020 before the protests against the rigged presidential elections. Her organization “VšĮ Tarptautinis pilietinių iniciatyvų centras „Mūsų namai” is registered in Lithuania since 2014.

Olga Karatch and her organization are fighting for human and civil rights in Belarus and against a possible direct participation of Belarus in the war in Ukraine. For that, they repeatedly have been threatened by the Lukashenko regime. The Belarusian KGB labelled her as a terrorist, and recently there have been death threats against her. If she returned to Belarus, she would face immediate arrest and conviction to many years of prison; even imposition of the death penalty cannot be ruled out.

The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted in 1998 acknowledges ‘the valuable work of individuals, groups and associations in contributing to the effective elimination of all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of peoples and individuals’.

States have an obligation to protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens, and, especially for human rights defenders who ‘frequently face threats and harassment and suffer insecurity’ ‘to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, at both the local and the national levels, including in times of armed conflict and peacebuilding’, as stated in UN General Assembly resolution 66/164.

 

We express our deep concern that ‘in some instances, national security and counter-terrorism legislation and other measures, such as laws regulating civil society organizations, have been misused to target human rights defenders or have hindered their work and endangered their safety in a manner contrary to international law’, as stated in UN Human Rights Council Resolution 22/6 of 2013 on the protection of human rights defenders, which commits all states to protect and not criminalise those who work to defend human rights.

Therefore, the situation is life threatening for her, and we ask you to extend your support to Ms Karatch and to allow her to stay in Lithuania and continue her work for human rights and peace under the secure status of being granted political asylum.

Yours sincerely,

Date

(Signature)

Please donate to ‘Our House‘:

Bank Name: Siauliu Bankas AB

IBAN: LT567180300008700065

SWIFT (BIC): CBSBLT26

Account Holder: Vsj Tarptautinis pilietiniu iniciatyvu centras “Musu namai”

Bank address: Tilzes g.149 76348 Siauliu Lithuania

Banko kode: 112025254

Country code: LT

Name of the organization: VšĮ Tarptautinis pilietinių iniciatyvų centras „Mūsų namai“

Address of the organisation: Vilniaus r. sav., Zujūnų sen., Buivydiškių k., Pamedės g. 6

Registration code: 303223926

Contact details: tel. +370 (5) 215 7190, finance@nash-dom.info

 

#ObjectWarCampaign: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: Protection and asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors to military service.

Comment

Comment

Ukraine: Release peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko

Français en-dessous

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Ukraine: Release peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko and drop all charges against him

17 August 2023

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the fact that Yurii Sheliazhenko, a well-known conscientious objector, pacifist, human rights defender and lawyer, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been placed under partial house arrest by the Solomyanskyi District Court of Kyiv on 15 August 2023.

Yurii Sheliazhenko is a prisoner of conscience detained simply for peacefully expressing his genuine pacifist views, and should be immediately and unconditionally released and all the charges against him dropped. The Ukrainian authorities should respect the right to freedom of expression and stop the crackdown on Yurii Sheliazhenko and the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, which reveals their growing intolerance for dissent.

We remind the Ukrainian government that pacifism is not a crime in democratic states. We demand that human rights are fully protected, including the right to conscientious objection to military service, which is inherent in the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, guaranteed, amongst others, under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is non-derogable even in a time of public emergency, as stated in Article 4(2) of ICCPR.

We strongly condemn all actions of harassment and all attempts of intimidation against Yurii Sheliazhenko and the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, as well as all cases of forced recruitment and even abduction of conscripts to the involved armies in the war in Ukraine, and all persecutions of conscientious objectors, deserters and non-violent anti-war protestors in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and elsewhere.

We support the IPB intention to nominate three remarkable organizations with a focus on the right to conscientious objection for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize; the Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors, the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, and the Belarusian organization “Our House”.

PRESS PACK – Chronology & Resources:

11 August 2022: Criminal proceedings open against Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, on the pretext of anti-Ukrainian character of his human rights defending activities, notably legal aid consultation text "human right to conscientious objection to military service".

21 September 2022, International Day of Peace: The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement meets and adopts the Statement entitled “Peace Agenda for Ukraine and the World”.

3 August 2023: Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, is charged with the crime of “justification of Russian aggression” with sole “evidence” the Statement of 21 September 2022, which explicitly condemns Russian aggression. The Security Service of Ukraine breaks into the apartment of Yurii Sheliazhenko and conducts an illegal search and seizure operation, finding nothing criminal and taking his phone, his computer, as well as some documents of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement.

3 August 2023: The World BEYOND War launches a petition to the Ukrainian Government entitled “Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko”.

4 August 2023: The IPB announces its intention to nominate three remarkable organizations with a focus on the right to conscientious objection for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize; the Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors, the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, and the Belarusian organization “Our House”.

4 August 2023: EBCO, WRI, IFOR and Connection e.V. publish a Joint Press Release in the framework of the #ObjectWarCampaign, entitled “Ukraine: Pacifism is not a crime in democratic states! Drop the charge against Yurii Sheliazhenko, #FreePeaceSpeech”.

4 August 2023: IPB publishes a Press Release entitled “Justice for Yurii Sheliazhenko”.

5 August 2023: EBCO President meets with Yurii Sheliazhenko and his advocate Svitlana Novytska during her human rights monitoring mission in Kyiv.

7-8-9 August 2023: Yurii Sheliazhenko is summoned to interrogation.

7 August 2023: EBCO President meets the Senior Investigator of the Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine, but she is not allowed to attend the interrogation according to the Ukrainian law.

7 August 2023: EBCO publishes a Video Interview with Yurii Sheliazhenko in Kyiv.

8 August 2023: The Senior Investigator of the Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine with the agreement of the Prosecutor of the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office submits a request to the Court on the application of a preventive measure in the form of 24-hour house arrest for 60 days to Yurii Sheliazhenko.

15 August 2023: The investigating judge of the Solomyanskyi District Court of Kyiv in an open court session partially satisfies the request and orders to place Yurii Sheliazhenko under house arrest, prohibiting him from leaving his place of residence in the time period from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next day until 11.10.2023 inclusive, excluding the need to leave this home during an air raid and emergency medical assistance. He also imposes on Yurii Sheliazhenko until October 11, 2023, inclusive, the following duties: to come to the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge, court at every request; to deposit with the relevant state authorities his passport(s) for traveling abroad, other documents giving the right to leave Ukraine and enter Ukraine (if such documents are available); notify the investigator, prosecutor or court about a change of residence and/or work; refrain from communicating with persons identified by the investigator as witnesses. Employees of the National Police, in order to monitor his behavior, have the right to appear in the house where he is under arrest, to demand oral or written explanations on issues related to the fulfilment of his obligations. The decision is subject to immediate execution and can be appealed directly to the Kyiv Court of Appeals within 5 days.

#ObjectWarCampaign: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: Protection and asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors to military service.

Appeal for donations: https://en.connection-ev.org/StopWarUkraineDonations-form

Spot: https://youtu.be/cxb5Modg9fk

Press release to download

FOR INTERVIEWS please contact:

    COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE           

17 août 2023

Ukraine : Libérez le pacifiste Yurii Sheliazhenko

et abandonnez toutes les charges retenues contre lui

Le Bureau européen pour l'objection de conscience (EBCO-BEOC), l'Internationale des résistants à la guerre (WRI), le Mouvement international de la réconciliation (IFOR) et Connection e.V. (Allemagne) condamnent fermement le fait que Yurii Sheliazhenko, objecteur de conscience, pacifiste, juriste, défenseur des droits de l'homme bien connu, secrétaire exécutif du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, ait été placé en résidence surveillée partielle par le tribunal du district Solomyanskyi de Kiev le 15 août 2023.

Yurii Sheliazhenko est un prisonnier d'opinion détenu simplement pour avoir exprimé pacifiquement ses véritables opinions pacifistes, et devrait être immédiatement et inconditionnellement libéré et toutes les charges retenues contre lui abandonnées. Les autorités ukrainiennes doivent respecter le droit à la liberté d'expression et mettre fin à la répression à l'encontre de Yurii Sheliazhenko et du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, qui révèle leur intolérance croissante à l'égard de la dissidence.

Nous rappelons au gouvernement ukrainien que le pacifisme n'est pas un crime dans les États démocratiques. Nous exigeons que les droits de l'homme soient pleinement protégés, y compris le droit à l'objection de conscience au service militaire, qui est inhérent au droit à la liberté de pensée, de conscience et de religion, garanti, entre autres, par l'article 9 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme, ainsi que par l'article 18 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques (PIDCP), auquel il ne peut être dérogé même en cas d'urgence publique, comme le stipule l'article 4, paragraphe 2, du PIDCP.

Nous condamnons fermement toutes les actions de harcèlement et toutes les tentatives d'intimidation à l'encontre de Yurii Sheliazhenko et du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, ainsi que tous les cas de recrutement forcé et même d'enlèvement de conscrits pour les armées impliquées, et toutes les persécutions d'objecteurs de conscience, de déserteurs et de manifestants anti-guerre non-violents en Russie, au Bélarus, en Ukraine et ailleurs.

Nous soutenons l'intention du Bureau International de la Paix (BIP-IPB) de nommer pour le prix Nobel de la paix 2024 trois organisations qui défendent le droit à l'objection de conscience au service militaire : l'organisation biélorusse Nash Dom, le Mouvement pour l'objection de conscience russe et le Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien.

MEMO DE PRESSE - Chronologie:

11 août 2022 : Ouverture d'une procédure pénale à l'encontre de Yurii Sheliazhenko, Secrétaire exécutif du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, au prétexte du caractère anti-ukrainien de ses activités de défense des droits de l'homme, notamment le texte de consultation sur l'aide juridique "droit de l'homme à l'objection de conscience au service militaire".

21 septembre 2022, Journée internationale de la paix : Le Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien se réunit et adopte la déclaration intitulée "Agenda de la paix pour l'Ukraine et le monde".

3 août 2023 : Yurii Sheliazhenko, secrétaire exécutif du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, est accusé du crime de "justification de l'agression russe" avec pour seule "preuve" la déclaration du 21 septembre 2022, qui condamne pourtant explicitement l'agression russe. Le Service de sécurité de l'Ukraine (ex-KGB) fait irruption dans l'appartement de Yurii Sheliazhenko et mène une opération illégale de perquisition et de saisie, ne trouvant rien de criminel et emportant son téléphone, son ordinateur, ainsi que des documents du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien.

3 août 2023 : The World BEYOND War lance une pétition au gouvernement ukrainien intitulée "Dites au gouvernement ukrainien d'abandonner les poursuites contre l'activiste pacifiste Yurii Sheliazhenko".

4 août 2023 : L'IPB annonce son intention de proposer trois organisations remarquables axées sur le droit à l'objection de conscience pour le prix Nobel de la paix 2024, dont le Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien.

4 août 2023 : EBCO, WRI, IFOR et Connection e.V. publient un communiqué de presse commun dans le cadre de la campagne #ObjectWarCampaign, intitulé "Ukraine : Le pacifisme n'est pas un crime dans les États démocratiques ! Abandonnez l'accusation contre Yurii Sheliazhenko, #FreePeaceSpeech".

4 août 2023 : IPB publie un communiqué de presse intitulé "Justice pour Yurii Sheliazhenko".

5 août 2023 : Le président du BEOC rencontre Yurii Sheliazhenko et son avocate Svitlana Novytska lors de sa mission d’observation des droits de l'homme à Kiev.

7-8-9 août 2023 : Yurii Sheliazhenko est convoqué pour un interrogatoire.

7 août 2023 : La présidente du BEOC rencontre l'enquêteur principal du département des enquêtes du service de sécurité de l'Ukraine, mais elle n'est pas autorisée à assister à l'interrogatoire conformément à la loi ukrainienne.

7 août 2023 : Le BEOC publie un entretien vidéo avec Yurii Sheliazhenko à Kiev.

8 août 2023 : L'enquêteur principal du département des enquêtes du Service de sécurité de l'Ukraine, avec l'accord du procureur du bureau du procureur de la ville de Kiev, soumet une demande au tribunal concernant l'application d'une mesure préventive sous la forme d'une assignation à résidence de 24 heures pendant 60 jours à Yurii Sheliazhenko.

15 août 2023 : Le juge d'instruction du tribunal du district Solomyanskyi de Kiev, lors d'une audience publique, satisfait partiellement la demande et ordonne d'assigner Yurii Sheliazhenko à résidence, lui interdisant de quitter son lieu de résidence entre 22 heures 00 min. et 6 heures 00 min. le lendemain jusqu'au 11.10.2023 inclus, à l'exclusion de la nécessité de quitter ce domicile lors d'un raid aérien et d'une assistance médicale d'urgence. Il impose également à Yurii Sheliazhenko, jusqu'au 11 octobre 2023 inclus, les obligations suivantes : se présenter à l'enquêteur, au procureur, au juge d'instruction, au tribunal à chaque demande ; déposer auprès des autorités compétentes de l'État son (ses) passeport(s) pour voyager à l'étranger, d'autres documents donnant le droit de quitter l'Ukraine et d'entrer en Ukraine (si ces documents sont disponibles) ; informer l'enquêteur, le procureur ou le tribunal de tout changement de résidence et/ou de travail ; s'abstenir de communiquer avec les personnes identifiées par l'enquêteur comme étant des témoins. Les employés de la police nationale, afin de surveiller son comportement, ont le droit de se présenter dans la maison où il est en état d'arrestation, d'exiger des explications orales ou écrites sur les questions liées au respect de ses obligations. La décision est soumise à une exécution immédiate et peut faire l'objet d'un appel directement auprès de la Cour d'appel de Kiev dans un délai de 5 jours.

#ObjectWarCampaign:

Object War Campaign

Appel à don :  https://en.connection-ev.org/StopWarUkraineDonations-form

Spot : https://youtu.be/cxb5Modg9fk

Communiqué de presse à télécharger

POUR INTERVIEWS , contacts:

Comment

Comment

Conscientious Objector Alert

Ukraine: Drop the charge against Yurii Sheliazhenko

Texte français en dessous

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Ukraine: Pacifism is not a crime in democratic states!

Drop the charge against Yurii Sheliazhenko, #FreePeaceSpeech

4 August 2023

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the fact that Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, has been formally charged by the Ukrainian government with the crime of “justification of Russian aggression” with sole “evidence” the Statement of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, adopted at the meeting on International Day of Peace 21 September 2022, entitled “Peace Agenda for Ukraine and the World”. What is more, the statement explicitly condemns Russian aggression (https://worldbeyondwar.org/peace-agenda-for-ukraine-and-the-world/).

We are all shocked that the Security Service of Ukraine broke into the apartment of Yurii Sheliazhenko yesterday, August 3rd 2023, and conducted an illegal search and seizure operation, finding nothing criminal and taking his phone, his computer, as well as some documents of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement. We strongly protest about the harassment of Yurii Sheliazhenko, who is summoned to interrogation on August 7th, 8th and 9th 2023.

We remind the Ukrainian government that pacifism is not a crime in democratic states. We demand that the charge against Yurii Sheliazhenko is immediately dropped, and that human rights are fully protected, including the right to freedom of expression and the right to conscientious objection to military service, which is inherent in the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, guaranteed, amongst others, under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is non-derogable even in a time of public emergency, as stated in Article 4(2) of ICCPR.

Yurii Sheliazhenko is a well-known conscientious objector, pacifist, human rights defender and lawyer. We strongly condemn all actions of harassment and all attempts of intimidation against him and the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, as well as all cases of forced recruitment and even abduction of conscripts to the involved armies, and all persecutions of conscientious objectors, deserters and non-violent anti-war protestors.

We support EBCO’s request for an urgent meeting with the President of Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday August 7th 2023 to discuss our concerns and recommendations, also in the framework of our joint #ObjectWarCampaign: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: Protection and asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors to military service.

We also support the petition to the Ukrainian Government which was launched by the World BEYOND War yesterday:

Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko

And finally we share the press release published by the International Peace Bureau today:

Justice for Yurii Sheliazhenko

 

FOR INTERVIEWS please contact:

COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE COMMUN

 

Ukraine : Le pacifisme n'est pas un crime dans les États démocratiques !

Abandonnez les poursuites contre Yurii Sheliazhenko, #FreePeaceSpeech

4 août 2023

 

Le Bureau européen pour l'objection de conscience (BEOC), l'Internationale des Résistants à la Guerre (IRG), le Mouvement International de la Réconciliation (MIR/IFOR) et Connection e.V. (Allemagne) condamnent fermement le fait que Yurii Sheliazhenko, secrétaire exécutif du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, ait été formellement accusé par le gouvernement ukrainien du crime de "justification de l'agression russe" avec pour seule "preuve" la déclaration du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, adoptée lors de la réunion de la Journée internationale de la paix du 21 septembre 2022, intitulée "Agenda de la paix pour l'Ukraine et le monde“ alors que cette déclaration condamne explicitement l'agression russe (https://worldbeyondwar.org/peace-agenda-for-ukraine-and-the-world/).

Nous sommes tous choqués que le Service de sécurité de l'Ukraine (SBU) ait fait irruption dans l'appartement de Yurii Sheliazhenko hier, le 3 août 2023, et ait mené une opération illégale de perquisition et de saisie, sans rien trouver de criminel et ait saisi son téléphone, son ordinateur, ainsi que certains documents du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien. Nous protestons vivement contre le harcèlement de Yurii Sheliazhenko, qui est convoqué pour un interrogatoire les 7, 8 et 9 août 2023.

Nous rappelons au gouvernement ukrainien que le pacifisme n'est pas un crime dans les États démocratiques. Nous demandons que les charges retenues contre Yurii Sheliazhenko soient immédiatement abandonnées et que les droits de l'homme soient pleinement protégés, y compris le droit à la liberté d'expression et le droit à l'objection de conscience au service militaire, qui sont inhérents au droit à la liberté de pensée, de conscience et de religion, garanti, entre autres, par l'article 9 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'homme, ainsi que par l'article 18 du Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques (PIDCP), auquel il ne peut être dérogé même en cas de danger public exceptionnel, comme le stipule l'article 4, paragraphe 2, du PIDCP.

Yurii Sheliazhenko est un objecteur de conscience, un pacifiste, un défenseur des droits de l'homme et un avocat bien connu. Nous condamnons fermement toutes les actions de harcèlement et toutes les tentatives d'intimidation à son encontre et à l'encontre du Mouvement pacifiste ukrainien, ainsi que tous les cas de recrutement forcé et même d'enlèvement de conscrits, et toutes les persécutions d'objecteurs de conscience, de déserteurs et de manifestants anti-guerre non-violents.

Nous soutenons la demande faite par BEOC d’être reçu par le président de l'Ukraine à Kiev le lundi 7 août 2023 pour discuter de nos préoccupations et recommandations, dans le cadre de notre campagne commune #ObjectWarCampaign : Russie, Biélorussie, Ukraine : Protection et asile pour les déserteurs et objecteurs de conscience au service militaire.

Nous soutenons également la pétition adressée au gouvernement ukrainien qui a été lancée hier par World BEYOND War : Dites au gouvernement ukrainien d'abandonner les poursuites contre l'activiste pacifiste Yurii Sheliazhenko.

Enfin, nous partageons le communiqué de presse publié aujourd'hui par le Bureau international de la paix : Justice pour Yurii Sheliazhenko.

Contacts presse:

 

Comment

IFOR reports to the UN UPR on the right to conscientious objection to  military service in Colombia, Russia and Turkmenistan

Comment

IFOR reports to the UN UPR on the right to conscientious objection to military service in Colombia, Russia and Turkmenistan

IFOR has prepared and submitted to the UN three reports for the upcoming 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review of Colombia, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan. The formal session will take place in November 2023.

IFOR is constantly engaging in advocacy initiatives at the UN to support the full recognition and implementation of the right to conscientious objection to military service. This work is carried on in collaboration and support of local organizations and conscientious objectors.

The report on Colombia, for instance, has been prepared in collaboration with ACOOC, local organization for conscientious objection and FOR Peace Presence a local organization which is actively engaging with human rights defenders and the Peace Community of San José de Apartadò.

In Colombia the right to conscientious objection to military service is not fully implemented and lately the illegal practice of illegal recruitment "batidas" and arbitrary detention has increased.

There is as well a lack of guarantees of the right to due process and the decision-making is still under the control of military authority. Conscientious objectors are victims of several discriminations in their social and political rights.
The report mentions as well the issue of the militarization of the territory and the topic of armed conflict and International Humanitarian Law.

You can read the complete report on Colombia here.

The situation in Russia has deteriorated since the breaking of the current war of aggression in Ukraine. The report submitted by IFOR highlights the obstruction of the exercise of the right to conscientious objection to military service and the practice of raids and roundups to forced recruitment and the consequences of the "partial mobilization" proclaimed last autumn. Additionally it has been registered the arbitrary detention of soldiers who refuse to participate in the war and their ill treatment also in the Ukrainian occupied territories. 

In Russia there is as well a severe intensification of the violation of the right to freedom of expression and the harsh discrimination against Jehowa Witnesses.

Read the complete report on the current situation in Russia here.

The submission on Turkmenistan reports on the not recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service and the consequent imprisonment of conscientious objectors and their ill treatment. 

Read the complete report on Turkmenistan here.


The Universal Periodic Review is a State-driven process, which provides the opportunity for each State to present what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their country and to fulfil their human rights obligations; the State under review will also report on the implementation of the previously accepted recommendations. UN Member States have the possibility to ask questions and make recommendations to the State under review. The UPR Working Group consists of the 47 members of the Council, however any member state can take part in the discussion.
The review is based on information provided by the interested State, independent human rights experts and other stakeholders such as NGOs.
NGOs reports and proposed recommendations can be referred to by any of the States taking part in the interactive discussion during the review; it is therefore of vital importance to engage at the UPR and address specific issues which can be therefore part of the dialogue with the country under review.
IFOR focuses in particular on issues related to conscientious objection and to the militarization of society. 

IFOR is currently running a particular conscientious objection project, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), a grant-making Quaker trust. Among the main aims are research work and redaction of thematic country-based reports to be submitted to the UN for the regular State reviews on human rights.

The right to refuse to kill, although it is a human right, thus universal and non-derogable, it is not recognized in all countries and many objectors are persecuted.

Comment

IFOR stands up at the UN for conscientious objectors in Ukraine and refers the cases of Vitalii Alexeenko, Hennadii Tomniuk and Andrii Vyshnevetsky

Comment

IFOR stands up at the UN for conscientious objectors in Ukraine and refers the cases of Vitalii Alexeenko, Hennadii Tomniuk and Andrii Vyshnevetsky

On the occasion of the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Ukraine, held at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 31st, IFOR's main representative to the UN Ms. Zaira Zafarana took the floor in the plenary to express IFOR's solidarity with all victims of the current war in Ukraine and expressed great concern for the violations of the right to conscientious objection to military service which is currently suspended in Ukraine, against international standards.

IFOR referred to the case of the first known imprisoned conscientious objector since the breaking of the current war, Vitalii Alexeenko and called on Ukraine for his release. Read more about this case here and here.

The statement mentioned other individual cases such as the ones of Hennadii Tomniuk and Andrii Vyshnevetsky, objectors under trial, the first one, and held in the army at the frontline, the second one.

Of particular concern is also the illegal detention of Russians objectors to war in the occupied territories by Russian forces.

Read more in the related joint press release here.

IFOR focuses on the right to conscientious objection as a key right to advocate. This is one of the root of IFOR since 1914 and one personal committment to exercize the right to peace and the right to life.

IFOR runs a thematic project funded by JRCT which facilitates all the implementation of actions and initiatives to report on this right to the UN, advocate for its implementation at the local level and to provide assistance to conscientious objectors everywhere.

Human Rights Council, 52nd Session 

31st March 2023 

Item 10: Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in Ukraine Oral statement delivered by International Fellowship Of Recnciliation 

Mr. President, Mr. High Commissioner, 

International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) thanks [the Office of the High Commissioner] for the  oral update. 

We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are suffering for the ongoing war of aggression by  the Russian Federation, which is causing tragedies and violations and an inhumane nuclear threat. War should be abolished. 

We stand in solidarity with those who courageously refuse to kill and call on the international community  to ensure full legal guarantees of their human right to conscientious objection and to provide them  protection and asylumi. 

The right to conscientious objection to military service should be protected and cannot be restricted as  highlighted in the last OHCHR quadrennial thematic reportii. 

The right to conscientious objection in Ukraineiii is currently suspendediv. 

We call on Ukraine to release the prisoner of consciencev Vitaly Alexeenko, jailedvi on February 23rd 2023.vii 

We appeal for the acquittal of conscientious objector Hennadii Tomniuk.viii 

We are greatly concerned for the case of Andrii Vyshnevetsky, a conscientious objector held in the army,  at frontline who should be discharged on the grounds of conscience.ix 

It has been also reported that Kyiv regional military administration has decided to terminate alternative  service of tens of conscientious objectors and had ordered conscientious objectors to appear in military  recruitment centre. 

We are also concerned abut the forced detention of Russian refusers to war in the occupied territories, as  highlighted in our recent joint press release.x 

We call on this Council to guarantee the protection of all human rights, including the right to conscientious  objection which is inherent in the right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion. 

Thank you. 

Comment

Russia: Release all those who object to engage in the war and are illegally detained in the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine

Comment

Russia: Release all those who object to engage in the war and are illegally detained in the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine

JOINT PRESS RELEASE

 

Russia: Release all those who object to engage in the war and are illegally detained in the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine

 

Brussels, 28 March 2023

 

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), Connection e.V. (Germany), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), and War Resisters’ International (WRI) strongly denounce the reported detention by the Russian authorities of large numbers of soldiers and mobilised civilians in a number of centres in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, because they refuse to participate in the war. Russian authorities are reportedly using threats, psychological abuse and torture to force those detained to return to the front.

 

According to VESNA (Движение Весна), “journalists have been able to confirm the existence of 13 such prisons, in which, according to relatives, more than 600 people are being held: 1. Zaytseva, Luhansk province; 2. Zavitne Bazhanya, Donetsk province; 3. Dokuchayevsk, Donetsk province; 4. Perevalsk, Luhansk province; 5. Rubezhnoy, Luhansk province; 6. Kremennaya, Luhansk province; 7. Staromlynovk, Donetsk province; 8. Starobelsk, Luhansk province; 9. Golubovka, Luhansk province; 10. Bryank, Luhansk province; 11. Novtroitsk, Donetsk province; 12. Makarovo, Luhansk province; 13. Amvrosivsk, Donetsk province.”

 

Detentions in these prisons are unlawful, not being based on any court decision. In that they are based on refusal on grounds of conscience to participate in the "special military operation" they are also arbitrary, as resulting from attempts to exercise the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (as well as Articles 28 and 59 of the Russian Constitution) and thus constitute a violation also of Article 9 of that Covenant.

 

In addition, according to VESNA, “mobilised civilians are kept in appalling conditions: they are threatened with torture and execution, they are deprived of the medical help and food. In this way Russian authorities are trying to force them to return to the front, although they have not received proper training nor basic supplies.”

 

Major western media[i] and independent Russian media[ii] have been reporting for months the detention of Russian soldiers who refuse to continue to participate in the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

 

The four organisations support the petition “Russia, stop illegal detention! Release conscientious objectors jailed in Ukraine, which demands from the Russian authorities, including the head of the investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin, and the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army, Vladimir Putin to:

  • Check all reports of cases of internal captivity and identify those responsible for the illegal detention of Russian military personnel;

  • Establish personal data, location of detained military personnel and their state of health;

  • Take urgent measures to release and protect the life and health of detained military personnel;

  • Take measures to implement the constitutional right of detained military personnel to replace military service with alternative civilian service;

  • Take measures to prevent organizing such illegal prisons in the future.

The organisations note that soldiers who cite reasons of conscience among the reasons for refusing to continue to fight should be considered conscientious objectors according to international law. Those who specifically oppose the Ukraine war count as conscientious objectors, whether or not self-defined.

 

“The imprisonment of conscientious objectors is a blatant violation of their right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, guaranteed under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is non-derogable in time of public emergency, according to Article 4.2 of ICCPR. All these conscientious objectors are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally”, Alexia Tsouni, EBCO, stated today.

 

“We remind the Russian government that they should safeguard the right to conscientious objection to military service, including in wartime, fully complying with the European and international standards”, Rudi Friedrich, Connection e.V., added.

 

“We also remind the Russian authorities that under the international standards the right of conscientious objection to military service applies no less to professional members of the armed forces than to conscripts, as it has been explicitly recognized, inter alia, by the OHCHR,[iii] the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),[iv] the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,[v] and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), of the OSCE.[vi]”, Zaira Zafarana, IFOR, underlined.

 

“The right to object also applies to selective objectors who believe that the use of force is justified in some circumstances but not in others."[vii], Semih Sapmaz, WRI, stated.

 

The four organisations note that Alan Mitchell, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has stated that “the Russian authorities must take effective steps to prevent torture and other forms of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in law enforcement establishments, prisons, military detention facilities, psychiatric hospitals, social care institutions and other places of deprivation of liberty, whether within the territory of the Russian Federation or in areas within the territory of Ukraine of which the Russian Federation exercises effective control.”[viii]

 

The organisations denounce all the cases of forced and even violent recruitment to the armies of both sides, as well as all the cases of persecution of conscientious objectors, deserters and non-violent anti-war protestors.

 

Sign the VESNA petition here: https://www.change.org/p/russia-stop-illegal-detention-release-conscientious-objectors-jailed-in-ukraine

 

Support the #ObjectWarCampaign: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: Protection and asylum for deserters and conscientious objectors to military service

 

Contact persons:

 

 

[i] https://www.newsweek.com/multiple-russian-soldiers-detained-refusing-fight-putins-war-1722915

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/02/russian-soldiers-accuse-superiors-of-jailing-them-for-refusing-to-fight

 

https://www.dw.com/en/russian-contract-soldiers-increasingly-jailed-in-occupied-donbas/a-62701166

 

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-soldiers-refuse-fight-ukraine-war-detained-1764556

 

https://bbcrussian.substack.com/p/russian-soldiers-denied-the-right-to-refuse?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63916810?xtor=ES-208

 

[ii] https://theins.ru/news/253550

 

https://t.me/svobodnieslova/282

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/report-exposes-putins-basement-trap-for-hundreds-of-defiant-russian-troops/ar-AAZPwGe

 

https://www.currenttime.tv/a/ukraine-russia-war-russian-soldiers-/31946543.html

 

https://verstka.media/v-plenu-u-sobstvennoy-armii/

 

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07/20/russian-authorities-detain-threaten-soldiers-refusing-to-fight-in-ukraine-a78326

 

https://en.zona.media/article/2022/11/16/objectors

 

https://theins.ru/en/politics/260165

 

[iii] OHCHR, Approaches and challenges with regard to application procedures for obtaining the status of conscientious objector to military service in accordance with human rights standards, (A/HRC/41/23), 24 May 2019, para. 60(c). Available at: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/41/23

 

[iv] Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, Recommendation 1518 (2001), para. 5.2. Available at: https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=16909&lang=en#_blank

 

[v] Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Recommendation CM/Rec (2010) 4 “Human Rights of members of the armed forces”, paras. 42 - 46. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/506979172.html

 

[vi] OSCE, ODIHR, Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel, 2008, Chapter 10 Conscientious Objection to Military Conscription and Service, 4. Best Practices and Recommendations, p. 85 [second point]. Available at: https://www.osce.org/odihr/31393?download=true

 

[vii] OHCHR, Approaches and challenges with regard to application procedures for obtaining the status of conscientious objector to military service in accordance with human rights standards, (A/HRC/41/23), 24 May 2019, para. 60(d). Available at: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/41/23

 

[viii] Council of Europe, Statement from Alan Mitchell, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), 31/03/2022. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/-1

 

 

 

***

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) was founded in Brussels in 1979 as an umbrella structure for national associations of conscientious objectors in the European countries to promote the right to conscientious objection to preparations for, and participation in, war and any other type of military activity as a fundamental human right. EBCO enjoys participatory status with the Council of Europe since 1998 and is a member of its Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations since 2005. EBCO is entitled to lodge collective complaints concerning the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe since 2021. EBCO provides expertise and legal opinions on behalf of the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe. EBCO is involved in drawing up the annual report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament on the application by the Member States of its resolutions on conscientious objection and civilian service, as determined in the “Bandrés Molet & Bindi Resolution” of 1994. EBCO is a full member of the European Youth Forum since 1995.

***

War Resisters' International (WRI) was founded in London in 1921 as a global network of grassroots organisations, groups and individuals working together for a world without war. WRI remains committed to its founding declaration that 'War is a crime against humanity. I am therefore determined not to support any kind of war, and to strive for the removal of all causes of war'. Today WRI is a global pacifist and antimilitarist network with over 90 affiliated groups in 40 countries. WRI facilitates mutual support, by linking people together through publications, events and actions, initiating nonviolent campaigns that actively involve local groups and individuals, supporting those who oppose war and who challenge its causes, and promoting and educating people about pacifism and nonviolence. WRI runs three programmes of work that are important to the network: The Right to Refuse to Kill Programme, the Nonviolence Programme, and Countering the Militarisation of Youth.

***

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) was founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe, and has taken a consistent stance against war and its preparation throughout its history. Today IFOR has branches, groups, and affiliates in over 40 countries on all continents, while the International Secretariat is located in the Netherlands. IFOR’s membership includes adherents of all the major spiritual traditions as well as those who have other spiritual sources for their commitment to nonviolence. IFOR has observer and consultative status to the United Nations ECOSOC and UNESCO organisations. IFOR maintains permanent representatives in Geneva, New York and Vienna and at the UNESCO in Paris who regularly participate in conferences and meetings of UN bodies, providing testimony and expertise from different regional perspectives, promoting non-violent alternatives in the fields of human rights, development, and disarmament.

***

Connection e.V. was founded in 1993 as an association advocating a comprehensive right to conscientious objection at an international level. The organisation is based in Offenbach, Germany, and collaborates with groups opposing war, conscription and the military in Europe and beyond, extending to Turkey, Israel, the U.S., Latin America and Africa. Connection e.V. demands that conscientious objectors from war regions should get asylum, and offers counseling and information to refugees and support for their self-organisation.

 You can download the full statement here.

Comment