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Jan

2024

Elective Military Corps Programs in Schools Should Not Be Forced Upon Minority and Low-income Students

Submitted by nnomy

Tue

Aug

Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg introduce mobile app "Draftee Online" to help draftees

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 02/08/2016 - 11:34

The Android application "Draftee Online" is an aid to any draftee, whether he intends to do army service or has the right to an exemption.

The app provides advice based on the rich experience of the lawyers at the human rights organization Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg, who help draftees to figure out the most pressing and complex questions of the military draft, and to defend their rights independently.

"Draftee Online" is set up so that a young person who suffers a violation of the law can find a case related to his own situation and receive concrete recommendations as to the actions he can undertake to protect his rights.

The application describes the most frequent situations that draftees encounter, as well as giving templates of the necessary declarations and complaints.

The application unites a large number of useful functions, which every draftee should have at the ready:

Thu

Jul

Rejecting Militarization

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 28/07/2016 - 09:49

Colombia is the only South American nation with an ongoing internal armed conflict where military service is obligatory, requiring all 18-year-old young men to serve for 1 to 2 years - with no option of an alternative civil service. The Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors (ACOOC) is committed to nonviolence and they educate and defend the rights of youth who object to serving in the military. ACOOC works towards demilitarization of society by using creative means such as films and street theatre to highlight the degree of militarization in Colombian society.

Rejecting Militarization

Thu

Jul

Forced recruitment and peace

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 28/07/2016 - 09:02

Colombia is the only South American nation with an ongoing internal armed conflict where military service is obligatory, requiring all 18-year-old young men to serve for one to two years - with no option of an alternative civil service. A military identification card is required to work in the public sector. Julián Ovalle and Alejandro Parra, of the Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors, describe their personal experience with forced recruitment and how it can be a nightmare for someone who has a fundamental objection to military service.

Forced recruitment and peace

Thu

Jul

Venezuela: NGOs introduce action for partial annulment and constitutional protection against obligatory military registration

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 14/07/2016 - 11:05

On Wednesday 13th July, non-governmental organizations such as the Venezuelan Program of Education-Action in Human Rights (VPEAHR), Laboratory of Peace (LP), Center of Justice and Peace (CJP), Civil Human Rights (CHR), Public Space (PS) and the Center of Human Rights of the Andrés Bello Catholic University (CHR-ABCU) went to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court with the goal of introducing an action for partial annulment of unconstitutionality along with an action for injunctive relief against articles 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 76, 82, 83, 85, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 of the Law of Obligatory Military Registration and Enlistment for the Integral Defense of the Nation, published in the Official Gazette Number 40.440, dated 25th June, 2014, which establishes obligatory of enrollment in Military Registration for all natural and legal persons.

English translation unavailable for .

Fri

Jul

Conscientious objection declaration: Thailand's first CO

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 08/07/2016 - 12:10

We're supporting Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, ‪‎Thailand‬'s first conscientious objector. He'll be appearing in the next edition of The Broken Rifle [subscribe here: http://lists.wri-irg.org/sympa/subscribe/wri-info]

Watch Netiwit's declaration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuPOtZGkyTw

Conscientious objection declaration: Thailand's first CO

Fri

Jul

WATCH: The militarism of Israel's youth movements

Submitted by hannah on Fri, 08/07/2016 - 11:15

Discourse on the soldiers, heroism and sacrifice increases on Memorial Day. But where these values come from? Some boys and girls who grew up to be soldiers, were educated in youth movements. What is the connection between youth movements and the army?

Source: Israel Social TV

WATCH: The militarism of Israel's youth movements

Fri

Jul

Cambodian military targets high schools in new recruitment campaign

Submitted by antimili-youth on Fri, 01/07/2016 - 14:59

The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces is doubling down on its recruiting efforts, building on a slick media advertising blitz launched last year and taking its message directly to the nation’s high schools in a bid to boost its ranks with an injection of diploma-wielding youths.

On Tuesday, recruiters kicked off the new campaign with a visit to Lycée Sisowath in Phnom Penh, handing out pamphlets and providing information on joining the nation’s armed forces, which are seeking to promote their officer-training programs, according to a source.

Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said RCAF wanted recruits with high school diplomas and strong foreign-language skills to improve the military’s human resources.

Five countries where child soldiers are still recruited

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 29/06/2016 - 15:07

By Jared Ferrie, Irin News

Colombia’s largest guerrilla group has agreed to release all of its soldiers under age 15. It is a move welcomed by child rights groups but it also highlights the continued use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) made the pledge during talks in Cuba aimed at ending its five-decade war against successive governments. The administration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC now need to decide upon the terms under which the child soldiers will be reintegrated into civilian life.

Thu

Jun

Poverty, Militarism and the Public Schools

Submitted by Gary on Thu, 23/06/2016 - 16:59

Why does the U.S. Army maintain a gamer website? It's for the sake of war, not for the good of children. (Image: U.S. Army)

by Robert C. Koehler

What’s the difference between education and obedience? If you see very little, you probably have no problem with the militarization of the American school system — or rather, the militarization of the impoverished schools . . . the ones that can’t afford new textbooks or functional plumbing, much less art supplies or band equipment.

The Pentagon has been eyeing these schools — broken and gang-ridden — for a decade now, and seeing its future there. It comes in like a cammy-clad Santa, bringing money and discipline. In return it gets young minds to shape, to (I fear) possess: to turn into the next generation of soldiers, available for the coming wars.

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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.