Right to Refuse to Kill

The Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors (Spanish: la Acción Colectiva de Objetores y Objetoras de Conciencia, or ACOOC) is a social organization which, based around the concepts of nonviolence and conscientious objection, supports alternatives to Colombian militarism, militarization, and the patriarchy, via legal, public campaigning, and educational strategies. Since 2006, ACOOC has worked alongside young people and their communities with to cultivate a peaceful culture.

Journalist, conscientious objector, and a member of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement Ruslan Kotsaba was on trial again for a video he posted in 2015. In front of the courthouse, Kotsaba, well-known for his pacifist and antimilitarist stance, was attacked by a far-right group. WRI strongly condemns the attacks against Ukrainian Kotsaba and stands in solidarity with him as well as the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and all conscientious objectors in Ukraine.

Five conscientious objectors from Turkmenistan who had already served sentences were jailed again in trials on 18 and 19 January. Courts gave all five two-year terms, four of them in a strict-regime labour camp, bringing to six the number jailed so far in 2021.

The first webinar of our series, Campaigning for Conscientious Objection to Military Service, co-organised with QUNO and IFOR, is taking place on Wednesday, 3rd Feb. In our first event, we will have campaigners from Geneva (Switzerland), Seoul (S.Korea) and Bogotá (Colombia), explaining the role of litigation in their campaigns supporting conscientious objectors.

Conscientious objector Rustamjon Norov, 22, was jailed despite his offer to perform alternative civilian service for three and a half years, the longest known sentence.

Ukrainian journalist, conscientious objector and a member of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement Ruslan Kotsaba will be put on trial again on Friday (22nd January) for a video he posted in 2015 in which he was calling to boycott military mobilisation for the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

On 5th January, sixty teenagers from Israel published an open letter declaring their refusal to serve in the army in protest of the policies of occupation and apartheid of the Israeli State.

In December 2020, War Resisters' International has submitted a report to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section (IPMS), providing information on discrimination against conscientious objectors.

Arrested in December 2020, 20-year-old conscientious objector Ruslan Artykmuradov is awaiting trial in prison for refusing compulsory military service. He offered to do an alternative civilian service, but Turkmenistan does not offer this, despite repeated United Nations calls.

Ukrainian Pacifist Movement (UPM) released a statement informing that Ruslan Kotsaba, a journalist and pacifist from Ukraine, will be tried again for a video he posted in 2015 in which he was calling to boycott mobilisation for armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Next Tuesday, 1st December, is Prisoners for Peace Day, a chance to show solidarity with conscientious objectors imprisoned for their refusal to take up arms, and those activists imprisoned for their resistance to war and militarism. 

Find a list of prisoners for peace here. You can download a pdf copy here.

A list of some of those currently in prison for their work for peace. Write to them on 1st December, Prisoners for Peace Day, help us grow our solidarity!