Front Page

CONTENT WARNING: this article makes references to sexual violence, torture, and other details that some readers may find upsetting.
The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organisation founded in 2014 by former GRU officer Dmitry Utkin and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, and has been described as “one of Russia’s most influential foreign policy tools”. Since its founding, Wagner Group has become known for its readiness to use extreme levels of violence and brutality during its operations.

On 4th July, European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) and War Resisters' International (WRI) have made an urgent appeal to the Lithuanian immigration authorities regarding the case of  Ivan Strashkevich, a conscientious objector from Belarus who is currently seeking asylum in Lithuania.

The German antimilitarist group Antimilitaristische Aktion Berlin (Antimilitarist Action Berlin) have found evidence that Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency (“Verfassungsschutz Berlin”) is monitoring their activities.

17 years after the first ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in favour of a Turkish conscientious objector, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe now took a surprisingly straightforward stance.

"As of last Friday, June 23rd, the Movement of Conscientious Objectors has been officially labeled as a "foreign agent" in the Russian Federation. This action, while a demonstration of the effectiveness of our work, is fundamentally a discriminatory application of law that contradicts universally accepted human rights and freedoms."

Conscientious Objection Watch (Vicdani Ret Izleme) has published a new report about the still missing right of conscientious objection in Turkey, not only describing the prosecution and punishment but also the consequences for conscientious objectors to live in a state of civil death.

Yesterday, 25 May 2023, at the Supreme Court of Ukraine in Kyiv, the court of cassation overturned the conviction of prisoner of conscience Vitaly Alekseenko, and ordered his immediate release from prison and his retrial in the court of first instance.

EBCO, Connection e.V., IFOR, and WRI strongly denounce the reported detention by the Russian authorities of large numbers of soldiers and mobilised civilians in a number of centres in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, because they refuse to participate in the war. Russian authorities are reportedly using threats, psychological abuse and torture to force those detained to return to the front.

Accuracy International (AI) is a British company based in Portsmouth, specialising in the production of high-end, hand built, precision sniper rifles and associated equipment. Weapons manufactured by AI have been used extensively in conflict zones, including states accused of human rights abuses.

In late 2022, WRI launched an initiative to develop a regional network of peace workers, pacifists and antimilitarists in Asia.