Editorial

Dear readers of CO-Update.

last month brought another judgment of the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey - this time in the case of gay conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan, who was a focus of solidarity with Turkish conscientious objectors during his imprisonment from April 2005 until March 2006. WRI issued a number of co-alerts in his case, participated in international delegations to attend his trials, and published a documentation of his case in June 2005 (see http://wri-irg.org/news/2005/turkey05-en.htm). Although the court found - again - on a violation of his right to conscientious objection, this does not change Mehmet Tarhan's situation on the ground, which is still a situation of "civil death", as he is officially still considered a deserter.
With sadness we also received the news of the death of Tayfun Gönül, Turkey's first declared conscientious objector. He inspired a new antimilitarist movement in the country, which is now slowly bringing results (at least on the international level).

Conscription is not only unpopular in Turkey, as the other stories in this issue of CO Update show. War Resisters' International has been opposed to conscription since its foundation in 1921, and we work tirelessly to support individuals and groups working against conscription. To continue to do this work, War Resisters' International depends on your donations. We therefore kindly ask you to donate to WRI online at wri-irg.org/en/donate-en.htm.

Andreas Speck