CO-Update

Welcome to Co-update No 44, the first issue of CO-Update in 2009. First of all we want to wish all of you a Happy New Year from all at War Resisters' International. And we hope that this
year will bring more progress for the right to conscientious objection all over the world.

According to a survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by the South
Korean Ministry of Defence, 68.1 percent, or 1,365 of respondents,
objected to allowing conscientious objectors to perform a substitute
service. Some 28.9 percent, or 580 of them, said they supported the
idea. The outcome of the survey runs counter to the results of an
October survey, officials of the Military Manpower Administration said.
The previous survey of 554 people, including lawmakers, lawyers,
professors, journalists and religious leaders, said 85.5 percent
supported the idea.

The New York Times reported on
18 December that Brazil is planning to modernise its military.
According to the report, this will include a national debate on
conscription, with the aim to enforce the countries existing
conscription laws.

A draft amendment to Taiwan's Conscription Act was passed
preliminarily by a legislative committee on 3 December 2008, shortening
the term of conscription from one year and two months to one year. The
Ministry of National Defense began to shorten the term of conscription
in 2004, when the period of mandatory military service was reduced from
one year and 10 months to one year and eight months.

By January 2007, the term was shortened to one year and four months
and as of July 2007, it was further shortened to one year and two
months.

1-5 April 2009: No to war - No to NATO

NATO will meet on 3 and 4 April 2009 for it's 60th anniversary
summit in Strasbourg, France, and Baden Baden, Germany. Groups from all
over Europe are preparing protest actions from 1-5 April 2009, which
will include:

In the previous month(s), the WRI office issued the following
co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at href="http://wri-irg.org/news/alerts/">wri-irg.org/news/alerts)