Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Appeal for an EU external policy framework based on European values

(18.06.2019) A letter was sent today to Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. The letter urges the European Union to respond to concerns raised about the European Union’s funding and cooperation with external actors in the context of platforms such as the Khartoum Process. The letter was signed by Nobel-prize Nominee, Fr. Mussie Zerai, Prof. Dr. Mirjam van Reisen, journalist Reem Abbas and Director Koert Debeuf, on behalf of over 20 organisations.

Eritrea: Stop the aid of a dictatorial regime and slavery

Petition to the European Commission

(17.05.2019) Dear Mr. Pöttgen, dear Mr. Kühnel,

herewith we would like to present to you in your capacity as representative of the European Commission in Germany on the occasion of the International Day of Conscientious Objection (May 15) a petition by the undersigned organizations.

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)

Non-assistance to persons in danger

Failure of European institutions to protect conscientious objectors

(13.05.2019) On the occasion of the International Conscientious Objection Day on 15 May 2019, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) red-flags the multiple discriminations that conscientious objectors to military service continue to undergo in Europe. In the run-up to the European elections, EBCO points moreover to the enduring omission of European institutions to take action against the violation of the human right to conscientious objection. “Non-assistance to persons in danger – this sums up the continued failure of major European institutions to support those who despite massive discrimination call upon the fundamental right of conscientious objection to military service”, EBCO’s President Friedhelm Schneider stated today.