From the office

The War Resisters' International (WRI), an international network of 82 affiliates in 43 countries, including Greece, condemns the terrifying attack on its associate, Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors.

On 3 and 4 April 2009 NATO will celebrate its 60th birthday in Baden-Baden in Germany and Strasbourg in France. While all the details of this "celebration" are not yet known, it is already clear that the NATO summit will not leave much space for democratic protest in either of the two summit cities (see page 5). War Resisters' International is part of the International Coordination Committee which coordinates a wide range of protest activities (see the overview on page 8), and is also part of NATO-ZU, a coalition of nonviolent groups that is part of the overall coalition organising actions of civil disobedience in Strasbourg in the morning of 4 April.

War Resisters' International's use of email and the internet goes back to the mid-1980s. In 1987, War Resisters' International started to use email to communicate with groups all over the world, and from 1989 until about 1996 WRI had its own online conference on the APC network, called wri.news. This proved important especially in the former Soviet Union and during the break-up of the then Yugoslavia, and the wars that accompanied this.

“In September 2001, when I demanded that the Serbian authorities recognise my right to CO there were 12 religious COs imprisoned in Serbia. Thanks to the campaign organised by the WRI and other peace groups, not only was I not jailed, but also these 12 imprisoned objectors were released in following months.”

Igor Seke, conscientious objector from Serbia

We ask you to support our efforts to support conscientious objectors and Prisoners for Peace. Take some time on 1 December – Prisoners for Peace Day – to write letters to prisoners (see the included list). And – for us to be able to continue our work – give generously to support WRI's work in support of Prisoners for Peace.

On 26 November 2008, War Resisters' International will be launching its
new website, after more than six months of development work. The new
site will include a new online Conscientious Objection
Information System (COBIS), which will combine WRI's co-alert system in cases of imprisoned conscientious objectors, a conscientious objector and activist database, the co-update e-newsletter, and the world survey on conscientious objection and recruitment. The system will also include a permanent Prisoners for Peace list, which will strengthen our
support for imprisoned conscientious objectors and peace activists.

The War Resisters' International Council meeting in Bilbao (29-31 October) was extremely concerned about the situation of war and general insecurity in eastern Congo (Kivu provinces and Ituri region), and warns against the deployment of more troops in the area.

Since August 2008, the situation has been worsening as a result of the renewed activity of different armed militias and daily military confrontations with the FADRC (governmental armed forces) and the UN force MONUC. The suffering of the local population is extremely hard, and at least 200,000 people have been displaced.

Almost 20 years after the end of the Warsaw pact, it's time to dissolve NATO

At the end of the cold war, the Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved in 1991. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged that the Western peace movements made an important contribution to the end of the cold war, and therefore to the end of the Warsaw Pact. War Resisters' International was part of that effort, and contributed directly with action against both, the Warsaw Pact and NATO.

Colombian conscientious objector and activist, Julian Ovalle will talk about the political situation, the recruitment practice of the different armed groups, and the work of the movement for conscientious objection in Colombia.

Bilbao, Basque Country, 26th - 29th of October 2008

WRI's Nonviolence Programme aims to strengthen and deepen our understanding of nonviolence, both from a strategic and campaigning point of view, and to develop and provide tools and support to groups using nonviolence. To advance further towards this goal, WRI is organising an International Nonviolence Training Exchange in Bilbao, the Basque Country from the 26th to the 29th of October, 2008.

War Resisters' International has been asked to explain to Inland Revenue why it has not paid a portion of its employees' income tax deductions. Office coordinator Andreas Speck has sent the following letter in response.

The 2006 WRI “Triennial” conference will be a decisive event in shaping the future of our organisation and our movement. Please make a note of the dates: the open conference will be from 23 to 27 July, while the WRI business meeting will be on 28-29.

The War Resisters' International was formed in reaction to the senseless slaughter of World War I with a mission not only to oppose all war but also to strive to eradicate its causes. This ambitious programme introduced a new and political dimension to the existing moral and religious basis of pacifism. It attracted some of the best pacifist thinkers and activists from around the world - George Lansbury, Bertrand Russell, Bayard Rustin, Martin Niemoeller, Danilo Dolci, and Mahatma Gandhi.