International Conscientious Objection Day: Events around the world

May 15th is International Conscientious Objection Day: a day to remember those who refuse to take up arms or participate in preparations for war.

Between now and May 15th, we’ll be sharing events, actions, and activities from around the world so you can see what’s happening in your city or country. Check this page again soon for new information and updates. 

If you're organising something for CO Day or know of any planned events, please email info@wri-irg.org with the subject line "CO Day event."

Colombia

Monday, 12th May 2025, 10am, Medellín. Workshop Introducing Conscientious Objection with 11th-grade students.

• Location: IE Juvenil Nuevo Futuro, Medellín. 

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 10am-4pm Bogotá. "More Playful, Less Warlike". A games fair that creates spaces for dialogue and learning through play, addressing social issues such as militarisation. Organised by ACOOC, World Beyond War, Temblores ONG and Juventud Rebelde. 

• Location: Plaza Central, Torre Enfermería, National University of Colombia, Bogotá.

Friday, 16th May 2025, 4pm Medellín. Discussion: "The ABC of Conscientious Objection" Organised by Alternativa Antimilitarista Medellín and the Medellín Library System.

• Location: Santa Elena Library, Medellín.

Latin America

The Latin American and Caribbean Antimilitarist Network (RAMALC) has shared this call for International Conscientious Objection Day. It's an invitation to stand against militarisation and war, refusing to be part of systems built on violence and exploitation. Don't count on us advocates for conscientious objection, antimilitarism, and solidarity all around the world. More information here. 

• Location: Online action.

Germany

Friday, 9th May 2025, 6pm Göttingen: Conscientious Objection in Turkey . With speakers from Turkey (Vicdani Ret Izleme).

• Location: OM10, Obere Maschstr. 10, 37073, Göttingen.

Friday, 9th May 2025, 7pm Erlangen. Film and discussion "The Love of Life" - with and about the Wehrmacht deserter Ludwig Baumann,

• Location: Zentrum Wiesengrund, Wöhrmühle 7, Erlangen.

Wednesday, 14th May 2025, 5pm Aalen. Conscientious objection vigil. Organized by the Aalen Peace Alliance.

• Location: Market fountain in Aalen.

Thursday, 16th May 2025, 2pm-5pm Oldenburg (Oldb). Vigil "Remember - Admonish - Protect - Asylum for ALL deserters and conscientious objectors." An initiative of the Antimilitarist Project Oldenburg (APO)

• Location: Cloppenburger Straße/corner of Bremer Straße.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 2pm-7pm Greifswald. Information booth on Greifswald's market square. Organized by Greifswald's Peace Now Initiative.

• Location: Greifswald's market square

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 3pm-5pm Mainz. Rally. Organized by DFG-VK and others.

• Location: Gutenbergplatz, Mainz.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 3pm Mannheim. Information booth in front of Mannheim Central Station.

• Location: In front of Mannheim Central Station.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 5pm Bonn: Rally with Etta Fennekohl (Beuel Peace Group), Laura Neubauer (Women's Network for Peace), Thomas Kaut (War and Peace Working Group), and Martin Singe (pax christi Bonn). Musical accompaniment: Gerd Schinkel. Organized by the pax christi group and other Bonn groups.

• Location: Martinsplatz, Bonn.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 6pm Stuttgart: Rally on the occasion of International Day of Conscientious Objection. According to the city's resolution, the Deserters' Memorial was supposed to stand on this site in 2023.

• Location: Dorotheenstraße/corner of Goerdelerstraße (near Hotel Silber) Stuttgart.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 3pm-5pm Marburg: Flyer campaign with information table. Organized by the Marburg Alliance "No to War!"

• Location: Gerhard-Jahn-Platz, 35037, Marburg.

Friday, 16th May 2025, 6:00pm Göttingen: The Human Right to Conscientious Objection and the Right to Asylum for Deserters in Germany with Franz Nadler (Connection e.V.)

• Location: OM10 - Obere Maschstraße 10, 37073 Göttingen.

Friday, 16th May 2025, from 10:30am Bielefeld: Day 14 of the 2025 Nature Friends Peace Hike.

• Location: Departure from Bielefeld Central Station at 10:30am. Highlights of the day: Visit to Stalag 326 in Schoß Holte-Stukenbrock, hike in the Senne River, and live music with the "Buschkamp Combo" for sing-alongs.

Friday, 16th May 2025, expected starting at 11am Osterholz-Scharmbeck. Action for the #ObjectWarCampaign. Organized by the Osterholz Peace Alliance.

• Location: Scharmbeck Market Square. 

Saturday, 17th May 2025, 11am Berlin: Music instead of war! Concert for the unknown deserters, With music by Lebenslaute , contributions by Ole Nymoen (podcaster and author of the book "Why I Would Never Fight for My Country - Against War Efficiency"), Artem Klyga (Russian lawyer and expert advisor for Eastern European conscientious objectors and deserters), Andrii Konovalov (Ukrainian war opponent), Emanuel Matondo (Angolan conscientious objector), Or (Israeli war opponent active with New Profile), and Rudi Friedrich (Connection e.V). The event in Berlin is organized by Connection e.V , DFG-VK, Pax Christi Germany, VVN-BdA Berlin, IPPNW, Friends of Nature Germany, and War Resisters' International.

• Location: Pariser Platz Berlin.

Sunday, 18th May 2025, 3pm- 6pm Nottuln: At the Festival for Democracy and Peace, we will inform and promote conscientious objection. Organized by the Peace Initiative Nottuln

Monday, 19th May 2025, 7pm Nottuln. Film screening and discussion "The Love of Life" – with and about Wehrmacht deserter Ludwig Baumann. Organized by the Nottuln Peace Initiative

• Location: "Ladenlokal" Potthoff 24 Nottuln.

South Korea

Wednesday, 14th May 2025, Seoul - "We Who Overcame the Coup: Stories and Songs of Civil Resistance in Thailand and Korea." Organised by World Without War. In-person event.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, Online - "Conscientious Objectors: Three Years of Prison-like Alternative Service, Well Done." Online event held in Korean. Interpretation not available. Register here.

Turkey

Saturday, 10th May 2025, 4pm, Online. Webinar "Resistance of the Cypriot conscientious refusers who are repeatedly threatened with trial and punishment".

• Location: Online event. Registration here. 

Wednesday, 14th May 2025, 7:30pm. Documentary screening and discussion. We watch the documentary “Shalom – Salaam – Peace” directed by Alexia Tsouni and produced by FemArtAct Social Cooperative and talk about the anti-war struggle of Israeli conscientious objectors.

• Location: Register here for more info and location.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 7:30pm, Istanbul. "Conscientious Objection and Civil Disobidience"

• Location: Kadıköy Forum, Yoğurtçu Park Istanbul.

United Kingdom

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 1pm London. National Ceremony - International Conscientious Objectors' Day. 

• Location: Conscientious Objectors' memorial stone. Tavistock Square. London, WC1 H9. More info here. 

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 11am, Carlisle. Carlisle Quaker Meeting (Cumberland Area Meeting) is holding a vigil on May 15th from 11.00-11.20am at the memorial stone in Hardwicke Circus, Carlisle. Everyone is invited to a shared lunch afterwards at the Meeting House.

• Location: The memorial stone in Hardwicke Circus, Carlisle.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 12:30 pm, Liverpool. Pax Christi, with the support of the Quakers, will celebrate CO Day with a ceremony of readings and music to celebrate the lives of conscientious objectors both past and present.

• Location: In front of the Law Courts, Derby Square, Liverpool City Centre

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 12:30 pm, Wokingham. There will be a short vigil to mark CO Day on Thursday 15th May 2025, 12.30 – 13.30. 

• Location: Howard Palmer Gardens, behind Cock Pit Path, Wokingham, RG40 2HD.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 1pm, Oxford. Featuring readings, poems and speeches honouring COs from WW1 and WW2, and from current conflicts around the world. With songs from Didcot Red Kites and Oxford Seagreen Singers.

• Location: CO plaque in Bonn Square, Oxford OX1 1LQ (If wet in New Road Baptist Church, Bonn Square)

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 2:30pm, National Memorial Arboretum. To mark CO Day on May 15th, Staffordshire Quakers will be holding a meeting for worship at the Quaker Service Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, starting at 2.30pm.

• Location: The Quaker Service Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire.

Thursday, 15th May 2025, 6pm, Leicester. All welcome to this event to mark CO Day in Leicester, at the CO Marker Stone on Peace Walk. It will be followed by an international online event organised by groups in Leicester on the 18th.

• Location: CO Marker Stone, Peace Walk (down from Victoria Park Arch of Remembrance War Memorial).

Thursday,15th May 2025, 6:15pm, Edinburgh. Meet at 6.15pm for 6.30pm Thursday 15 May at the Peace Tree in Princes Street Gardens for songs from Protest in Harmony, hear about COs and an update on the Opposing War Memorial. Contributions from Protest in Harmony, Israeli Refuser Solidarity Network and David Mackenzie (Trident Ploughshares and Secure Scotland), on opposition to the tides of war globally. 

• Location: The Peace Tree in Princes Street Gardens (Edinburgh) between the Bandstand and the Fountain in West Princes St Gardens. You can enter via the pedestrian gate south of North Castle Street.

Sunday, 18th May 2025, 7:00 pm, Leicester International Online - Remembering Conscientious Objectors Yesterday and Today. An online event following CO Day, honouring the memory of COs across history.

• How to register:  for Zoom link and more details please email abolton2@live.com