Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

North Korean Youth Find Ways to Dodge Military Service

(11.03.2021) More and more North Korean youth are dodging mandatory military service, because ruling party membership and all its perks are no longer as automatic for those who finish lengthy stints in the armed forces, sources in the country told RFA.

Helen Kidan, Eritrea/United Kingdom: People are fleeing indefinite military service in Eritrea

Video on YouTube channel Refuse to Kill

(15.05.2020) Helen Kidan from the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR) describes the situation in Eritrea where people from ages of 18 to 40 are forcibly conscripted into the military and have no right to object.

Should Israel Scrap Its ’People’s Army’ Model?

(03.09.2019) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government following the April election because his former coalition partner, Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, insisted on legislation that would subject more ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to the draft. Lavy is the founder of a non-profit organization called Hazit that is advocating for a professional volunteer army and the end of the military draft in a shift to a model similar to that of the United States.

Action: Stop the Slavery in Eritrea

Gallery to the action to the International Day of Conscientious Objection

(17.05.2019) Several dozen met on the occasion of the International Day of Conscientious Objection (May 15) in Bonn. They focussed on the situation in Eritrea, a country where women and men are conscripted indefinitely. The right of conscientious objection doesn’t exist in Eritrea. Some conscientious objectors have been detained for almost 25 years. The participants also submitted a petition to the European Commission Representation in Bonn. In it they called on the European Union to stop a project for road construction: “The aid subsidizes a dictatorial regime. Conscripts are meant to be used whose employment can only be described as slavery. There are no assurances on behalf of the Eritrean government to comply with human rights.” (...more)