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The Conscientious Objection Association (Turkey) has released a new report on the rights violations of conscientious objectors (COs) in Turkey. The report, released this Monday, includes in-depth interviews with COs, explains ongoing cases of COs, and includes recommendations to the Turkish government and to the international mechanisms regarding the issue.

In February, War Resisters’ International, Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) and International Fellowship for Reconciliation (IFOR) started a new webinar series on campaigning for conscientious to military service. The webinars included presentations from activists and experts from different countries. They also included some case studies and testimonies from CO's around the world. The presentations (in English, Spanish and some in Turkish) are now available on the Refuse to Kill Youtube Channel.   

An open letter signed by a coalition of human rights groups, including Child Rights International Network, Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Watch, urged the defence Ministry to stop recruiting children aged under 18.

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

WRI strongly condemns the brutal attacks against conscientious objector Ruslan Kotsaba and stands in solidarity with him. We also join the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement (UPM) in their call to the authorities to investigate the attacks against Kotsaba thoroughly and take necessary steps to ensure his and other UPM activists’ safety. 

For the first time, the Supreme Court of South Korea upheld a lower court's acquittal of a conscientious objector who refused to perform military service due to his personal convictions other than religious convictions based on Jehovah Witness belief. 

On the occasion of May 15 – International Day of Conscientious Objection, Women in Black organised an antimilitarist action in Belgrade (Knez Mihailova Street near the restaurant Ruski car) “NO to military service – YES to conscientious objection!”

International Conscientious Objection Day (CO Day), 15th May, was celebrated with actions and events by activists from around the world in solidarity with those who have and those who continue to resist war. This year we had a particular focus on Turkey.

In the early 1980s, a group of pacifist feminists from across Europe united to protest the buildup of arms and nuclear weapons. Together, they established 24 May as International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament. On this day, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) honours their legacy and that of women everywhere leading the struggle against militarism. As feminist peace activists from around the world, WILPF continues to demand that governments take immediate action to end the daily threat and impact of weapons on people and communities everywhere

The antimilitarist movement in Colombia describes the situation that has been experienced in Colombia since April 28, 2021, the reasons why demonstrations have been held since that date and the militarized response of the government. This is an urgent call for solidarity to challenge he discourses of war and fear that today find an absolutely opposite correlate to the cultural resistance, the bets for change and the possibility of building horizons more in line with the reality of the Colombian people and their proposals to materialize peace from the territories, in diversity and dignified life.