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We’re heartbroken and outraged and like so many of you, refuse to allow the systematic killing of Black people in the United States to continue without a fight for justice. There is a lot to be outraged about: from how the politics of COVID-19 pandemic put the lives of Black and indigenous folks at risk, to how calls for release of prisoners still haven’t been met, to the fact that police brutality has taken the lives of Ahmaud Arbury, Dreasjon Reed, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Taylor McDade, and far too many others.

As towns and whole countries shut down in order to “flatten the curve” of outbreaks of the coronavirus, we are at risk of choosing the wrong analogy for what we collectively need to do in these perilous times. “Waging a war” is the most deceptively alluring analogy for mobilizing private and public resources to meet a present danger. We should, however, resist that allure.

A Danish independent media and research centre has published a report accusing the country’s largest arms manufacturer, Terma, of war crimes after continuing to supply arms to the United Arab Emirates, despite a decision by Denmark to stop arming Saudi and the UAE because of their involvement in the war in Yemen.

International Conscientious Objection Day (CO Day), 15th May, was celebrated with actions and events by activists from around the world. This year, due to Covid-19, the actions took place mostly online.

War Resisters’ International is about to turn 100 years old. While celebrating cultural diversity, we’re proud to say that as an International we firmly believe in the unity of humankind. The situation provoked by COVID-19 is showing us that international cooperation – and not confrontation – is the path that the world's peoples have to take, if they intend to save the lives of their members.

This year on International Conscientious Objection Day, 15th May, we are focusing on conscientious objection and the right to seek asylum this year. A lot of the present refugees have to leave their countries because of forced recruitment in countries that don't recognise the right to conscientious objection. We say: protecting people who decide not to go to war would be an important and necessary step to struggle against war and oppression!

The University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom has been accused of training Bahraini police at a base that is well-known as a “torture hub”.

European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) has released its Annual Report on Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Europe 2019. The report highlights multiple discriminations conscientious objectors faced across Europe throughout 2019.

Subhash Chandra, a member of WRI's executive committee from Nepal travelled to India from 25th January to 1st February to participate in JaiJagat 2020 yatra- a year long foot march that began on 2nd October 2019 from Rajghat, India and will end on 2nd October 2020 in Geneva, Switzerland. Jai Jagat means 'victory to the world'.

We have launched the CO book in its Spanish edition. On February 20th we held a launching event in Bogotá where we reflected on the book's content and discussed about all the ways we can object and resist war.