conscription

Mon

Apr

2016

Statement in solidarity with the conscientious objectors of Bolivia for ANOOC, Colombia

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

This year on the 22nd of March, the Bolivian Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal (PCT) rejected the right of conscientious objection as an alternative to its obligatory military service. This has occurred in spite of the generally agreed-upon...

Sat

Jun

U.S. Muslims Take On ISIS’ Recruiting Machine

Submitted by Gary on Sat, 13/06/2015 - 23:49

Humera Khan, the founder of Muflehun, a think tank that focuses on countering violent extremism, during a youth leadership and safety conference in Avon, Conn., in November. Credit Katherine Taylor for The New York Times

By Laurie Goodstein

STERLING, Va. — Imam Mohamed Magid tries to stay in regular contact with the teenager who came to him a few months ago, at his family’s urging, to discuss how he was being wooed by online recruiters working for the Islamic State, the extremist group in Syria and Iraq.

Tue

Jun

14 Powerful Portraits Of Men Reacting To New Mandatory Army Draft In Lithuania

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 09/06/2015 - 16:22

By Neringa Rekasiute

Two women in Lithuania are using photography to approach a very controversial topic – military conscription, which was suddenly reinstated by the Lithuanian government just a few months ago. The series is a collaboration between Lithuanian actress and TV host Beata Tiskevic-Hasanova and Lithuanian photographer and political science student Neringa Rekasiute.

Fri

May

WRI Statement for International Conscientious Objection Day

Submitted by antimili-youth on Fri, 15/05/2015 - 17:36

15th May is International Conscientious Objection Day - a joint day of action used by peace activists around the world to support those who refuse to be part of the militarist system, as well as to remember and learn from conscientious objectors of past generations.

Those who resist war and preparations for war expose the military for what it is. As Yeook Yang, from World Without War, a WRI affiliate in South Korea, tells us: "In a highly militarised society where any discussion of the military is taboo, conscientious objectors are making it clear that the military exists only to kill."

For us, conscientious objection is part of a wider nonviolent struggle to transform oppressive and violent systems, and show an alternative way.

Take action

Here are some ways you can support conscientious objectors around the world today:

Fri

Feb

When IDF conscription begins at age three

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 27/02/2015 - 15:41

An education system that brings an inherently violent organization in through the front door is failing at its most basic obligation. This policy is the first injection of militarism, ultimately meant to prevent our children from becoming critical citizens.

Ten years ago, when my oldest daughter was five years old, I already had the honor of being the mother of a draft refuser.

One day, when she was in kindergarten, my young daughter came home with a notice from the kindergarten teacher asking parents to help their children prepare care packages for a soldier. The notice included a list of suggested items, and requested that the package include a drawing and letter from the child to the soldier.

I immediately called the kindergarten teacher and asked her if she didn’t think that four- and five-year-old children were a bit too young to be drafted into the Home Front Command. “What do you mean,” she responded, “It’s the most basic civic act!”

Tue

Jan

Petition to End Finnish Conscription and Imprisonment of Conscientious Objectors

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 13/01/2015 - 15:43

Sign the petition

Call of action for Avaaz network to end conscription in Finland and in support of freedom for conscientious objectors.

Finland is one of the last remaining countries in Europe that still has conscription. Finnish society and national culture are very militaristic and conscription is upheld primarily because of militaristic values and traditions. Even the armed forces admit they don't need all the conscripts and the size of reserve forces was cut by about 1/3, from 350 000 to 230 000 active reserve troops [Ministry of Defence, Finnish Army].

Mon

Oct

Studies explore effects of war on former child soldiers

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 20/10/2014 - 02:03

Young soldiers from a Ugandan supported Congolese rebel movement group, sing liberation songs waving their rifles in this photo in the north eastern Congolese town of Bunia. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

Society for Research in Child Development

Despite international bans, more than 250,000 children fight as soldiers in 86 countries across the globe, almost half of them in Africa. Two new studies explored how these children adjust after they return to their homes. Key to successful adaptation, the studies found, was the characteristics of the communities to which the children returned.

Tue

Oct

North Korea to conscript women for 7 years

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 14/10/2014 - 16:12

North Korean women aged 17 and over will face seven years’ military conscription, starting in January, sources said over the weekend.

According to revised military service laws to be announced soon, military service for males will be increased from 10 years to 11 years. The state originally considered increasing the period to 13 years but, taking into account the measure’s overall failure in the mid-1990s, decided instead to conscript women.

The North is struggling to keep up the numbers in its military forces, which have totaled more than 1.2 million.

A shortage of males born in the mid-1990s reflects the nationwide famine during which about 330,000 children died.

Source: The Korea Times

Mon

Sep

Colombia army admits recruitment ‘raids’ are illegal

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 16:16

Photo: Vanguardia

Colombia’s army has acknowledged that forcing youths into trucks on the pretext of checking their military status is against the law, newspaper El Espectador reported on Thursday.

In late August, after allegations made in the media about arbitrary raids for recruitment purposes by the Army, better known as “batidas”, the then Head of Army Recruiting General Felix Ivan Muñoz was relieved of his duties. Colonel Mauricio Martinez was confirmed as the replacement and now has the role of promoting “the improvement of processes for defining the military situation of Colombian men.”

This is a recurring issue. The Colombian military has in the past been accused of forced and irregular recruitment of young people and citizens exempt from military service.

These “illegal raids” are carried out in cities where army trucks illegally and forcibly pick up young men on the pretext of checking their military status.

Thu

Sep

YPG's Mandatory Military Service Rattles Kurds

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 25/09/2014 - 12:56

Photo: Syria Deeply

A new law stipulates that young men in the cantons of Kobani, Ifrin and Al Jazeera must enlist. Now, some have begun to flee.

When 29-year-old Bassam defected from the Syrian army he thought he had escaped mandatory military service for good. The law school student fled to Iraqi Kurdistan in early 2012, then to the neighboring Syrian city of Qamishli.

But the draft followed him. On July 13 the militant arm of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which exerts civil control over Kurdish-majority areas of the northeast, introduced a bill that would force Bassam to join the Kurdish armed forces.

Mon

Sep

Disturbing photos show militarization of Israeli children

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 15/09/2014 - 14:45

Photo: An Israeli boy wearing a military vest throws a mock grenade during a traditional military weapon display to mark the 66th anniversary of Israel’s “independence” at the occupied West Bank settlement of Efrat on 6 May 2014. (Gali Tibbongali / AFP)

On 6 May, Israelis celebrated their “independence day,” which they mark according to the Jewish lunar calendar.

Traditionally Israeli Jews hold public celebrations and picnics, especially in “national parks” typically built over the ruins of ethnically cleansed and destroyed Palestinian villages.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.