Network News

Invitation to an international Peace Camp and Conference at a major UK airbase used by the US Air Force, for conventional and potentially nuclear weapons stationing.

On December 3, President Yoon Suk Yeol abruptly declared martial law. Park An-su, appointed as the martial law commander, announced decrees from the Martial Law Command. These decrees severely undermine constitutional rights such as freedom of the press, freedom of publication, and freedom of assembly and association. Both the President’s declaration of martial law and the martial law commander’s decrees are actions that gravely threaten democracy.

In recent weeks we have seen a number of significant acts of violence that have directly impacted WRI affiliates. We want to draw attention to two of them – not to compare them (they are radically different in scale, context and level of brutality), but to highlight the way different manifestations of militarism around the world are interconnected, even when they are being experienced in very different contexts nearly 14,000km apart.

"Decarbonizing is Demilitarizing" is an initiative of Centre Delàs of Peace Studies (a War Resisters’ International affiliate), Ecologistas en Acción and Extinction Rebellion Barcelona, and seeks to strengthen the links between pacifist, ecological, feminist and global justice movements by shedding light on the multiple interconnections between militarism and the climate crisis. 

Their manifesto - which you can find below - has been so far endorsed by over 40 Spanish organizations and made public on June 13, at the campaign launch. 

Christian peace-making charity, The Fellowship of Reconciliation, has condemned the Russian declaration of war against the Ukraine. We urge politicians on all sides to take action for a peaceful resolution of this situation and for Christians to speak out, to pray regularly for peace and to support any humanitarian calls for help. 

John Cooper, FoR Director said:

In response to this morning's news, the Peace Pledge Union has released the following statement.

The Peace Pledge Union condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. No excuses can serve to justify this murderous act of military aggression. Our thoughts are with people in Ukraine in the midst of this horror.

The resistance to a new NATO radar base on Sornfelli mountain, on the Faroe Islands, is growing.

The Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors (Spanish: la Acción Colectiva de Objetores y Objetoras de Conciencia, or ACOOC) is a social organization which, based around the concepts of nonviolence and conscientious objection, supports alternatives to Colombian militarism, militarization, and the patriarchy, via legal, public campaigning, and educational strategies. Since 2006, ACOOC has worked alongside young people and their communities with to cultivate a peaceful culture.

At our annual meeting (held online this year) we were very happy to welcome two new organisations to our international network.

Last year, Corporación Otra Escuela joined WRI network as associated. Learn more about their work and read their reflections on the current Covid-19 crisis.

In May we were very happy to welcome two new organisations to our international, antimilitarist network!

Sadankomitea or Committee of 100 in Finland is a long-time affiliate of War Resisters’ International, and last year it became a section of WRI. This hopefully signals the beginning of closer cooperation with the rest of the WRI family.