War Resisters' Stories

In December, a Belgian civil court heardr the arguments by a coalition of Belgian NGOs to end the export of military components to the Turkish air force. Earlier in 2021, WRI’s affiliate Vredesactie together with CNAPD and supported by Amnesty International Belgium, sued the Flemish government for its involvement in the production of the Turkish A400M military transport planes. As the court session was taking place activists organised a protest in front of  the Palace of Justice in Brussels. They demanded an end to arms exports to conflict areas and stricter controls on the end use of Flemish arms exports. Read more here.

On December 6th, the UN Human Rights Committee announced their decision on the case of conscientious objector Lazaros Petromelidis from Greece. The Committee found violations of articles 9, 12, 14, and 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and asked Greece to take necessary measures addressing these violations. War Resisters’ International, together with Connection e.V., the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, and  International Fellowship of Reconciliation As released a statement welcoming and evaluating this statement.