[Since 1982, the International Day of Conscientious Objection to Military Service has been celebrated on May 15.
Conscientious objection is a human right!
In 1987, the right to conscientious objection was recognized as an international human right by the UN General Assembly.
In 2004, the UN Commission on Human Rights called on UN member states to regulate and comply with the right to
conscientious objection in their national legislation.
According to Wikipedia, conscientious objection is a legally protected civil right in democratic constitutional states.
However, this is usually tied to certain procedures and conditions, the violation of which has criminal consequences.
In dictatorships and under a state-imposed state of emergency (such as martial law), conscientious
objection is often illegal and treated as a criminal offense.
But how is this human right of conscientious objection handled in different countries?
Who is proving to be a "democratic constitutional state" and who is a "dictatorship"?
The following section takes a closer look at some countries:
In the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, conscientious objectors face prison sentences of several years.
Several conscientious objectors have already stood trial in Northern Cyprus.
Conscientious objectors are also persecuted in Turkey.
Unsurprisingly, in dictatorial North Korea, refusal to perform military service is
punishable by up to imprisonment in an internment camp.
But even in supposedly democratic South Korea, conscientious objectors were persecuted for decades.
In 68 years, almost 20,000 conscientious objectors served a total of almost 37,000 years in prison.
Although a law on conscientious objection was only passed at the end of 2019, the 36-month
"alternative service" must be completed in prisons.
This is roughly twice the length of normal military service.
Their daily tasks in the prisons include "maintenance and hygiene".
The Southeast Asian states of Singapore and Thailand also do not recognize the right to conscientious objection.
In the north-eastern African country of Eritrea, men and women are sometimes arbitrarily conscripted for up to 20
years of service; many have left the country as a result.
Israel only recognizes a limited right to conscientious objection for women liable for military service.
Conscientious objection by men is treated as insubordination or desertion.
"Tagesschau.de" reported on April 16, 2025 that conscientious objectors are becoming a problem for Israel.
Israel's army relies on so-called reservists, who can be called up until the age of 40 after their military service.
Since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, more than 100,000 reservists are said to have refused to serve in the Israeli army.
Now to the war in Ukraine since February 24, 2022:
The German association "Connection e.V.", which is close to the peace movement, estimates that more than 22,000 men liable
for military service will have left Belarus by September 2022.
In Belarus, compulsory military service applies to all men between the ages of 18 and 27.
According to the penal code, conscientious objectors face fines and prison sentences of up to 5 years.
Based on a study by an independent Russian network, "Connection e.V." concludes that between February 24, 2022 and July
2023, at least 250,000 conscripts from Russia have left the country and sought protection in other countries.
In Russia, all men between the ages of 18 and 30 are subject to compulsory military service.
An application for conscientious objection is only possible until conscription.
Reservists - who can be drafted up to the age of 65 - and soldiers have no right to apply for conscientious objection.
Following a change in the law in November 2022, conscientious objectors who are in so-called alternative service can
also be drafted into the military to perform unarmed service.
While in Russia - vilified as a dictatorship - the right to conscientious objection is partially guaranteed, the
Ukrainian government completely suspended the right to conscientious objection at the beginning of the war.
Conscientious objectors are prosecuted and in some cases sentenced to several years in prison.
Between January and September 2023, almost 19,000 criminal proceedings were conducted for conscientious objection.
And there are many more proceedings against deserters.
They are threatened with years of imprisonment or being sent back to the front.
All Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 - including those living abroad - must register for
military service and update their residence status.
"Connection e.V." estimates the number of men in Ukraine who have evaded military service and fled
to the EU by the beginning of 2024 at over 325,000.
Other states that have a right to conscientious objection in peacetime also restrict
or completely abolish it in a war situation.
Their "democracy mask" falls and their true, misanthropic face is revealed.
This is because the right to conscientious objection to military service applies even in times of national emergency
that threaten the life of the nation, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote in a publication.
Significantly, Western politicians and media justify their support for Ukraine by
claiming that Ukraine is "on democratic ground".
For example, "SRF" did so in the "Tagesgespräch" of August 22, 2023 with the German propaganda
researcher and historian Christian Hardinghaus.
It is therefore not surprising that "SRF" only points the finger at Russia when it comes to conscientious objection
and does not say a word about the situation in Ukraine.
"SRF" thus proves to be a propaganda mouthpiece of the Ukrainian government and therefore a party to the war.
However, the Ukrainian government - as its inhumane treatment of war resisters shows - is anything but on "democratic ground".
A 36-year-old Ukrainian living in Switzerland also told swissinfo.ch:
"The whole system is corrupt from top to bottom, I think.
That's why people desert and lose the motivation to go to the front.
My friend who is there keeps telling me: 'Don't even think about coming here'."
Finally, let us take a look at how the human right of conscientious objection is
handled in the EU and in Germany in particular.
According to Rudi Friedrich from the association "Connection e.V.", around 3,500 Russians have applied for
asylum in Germany for conscientious objection, according to the Federal Office for Migration.
There are around 10,000 in the EU as a whole, but the vast majority of their asylum
applications are rejected throughout the EU.
The old German government has declared that deserters from Russia should receive refugee protection.
But these are only a few.
Most of the Russians who have fled to the West are draft evaders who do not want to be
called up for military service in the first place.
Their asylum applications are generally rejected on the grounds that it is not "considerably"
likely that they will be recruited for the war.
The different rulings by German courts show that the assessment of the risk situation for Russian
military conscripts is by no means uniformly regulated.
Refuseniks from Ukraine have so far been on the safe side legally in Germany:
Like all Ukrainian citizens, they currently still have a temporary humanitarian
residence permit, which is valid until March 2026.
However, the Ukrainian government is putting increasing pressure on the German
government to hand over men fit for military service.
When it comes to "resistance to state authority", extradition is indeed permitted.
- A decision by the Federal Court of Justice on January 16, 2025 regarding the return of
Ukrainian conscientious objectors caused a stir.
This could not be more far-reaching:
According to lawyer René Boyke, who worked for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees for seven years, the Federal Court
of Justice violated human dignity and made several mistakes.
The Federal Court of Justice takes the following view:
"If a 'persecuted person in extradition proceedings' refuses military service for reasons of conscience, he must nevertheless
be extradited if his home country requesting extradition is attacked by force of arms in violation of international law."
Given that the average life expectancy of a frontline soldier in eastern Ukraine is only four hours - as a
former US Marine told ABC News in February 2023 - human rights are being trampled underfoot.
The US Marine fought alongside the Ukrainian forces in Bachmut.
According to Boyke, this decision by the Federal Court of Justice has far-reaching consequences - especially for Germans.
Quote: "Although the decision is actually about the extradition of a Ukrainian, if you read the decision, it becomes
clear that it is actually about the question of whether Germans have the right to evade military service in war.
And the Federal Court of Justice answers this question in the negative, expressing it somewhat confusingly
when it claims that 'the suspension of the right to conscientious objection is not unthinkable'.
What a signal the Federal Court of Justice is sending out with this! (...) This of course
prepares the ground for future developments."
Boyke comes to the end:
"Let's be realistic: In the event of war, there will be no right to conscientious objection in Germany. (...)
The Federal Court of Justice expresses itself on this question only in the
subjunctive, but nevertheless unusually clearly. (...)
Anyone who wants to see it can see that Europe is gearing up for a major war."
It must therefore be assumed that apparently democratic constitutional states such as Germany and EU countries turn out
to be dictatorships ruling with an iron hand in times of war.
The right to conscientious objection is being massively torpedoed.
- On purpose, because conscientious objection takes the wind out of the sails of the warmongers.
An alliance of civil society organizations, which stands in solidarity with all people who stand up against war, published an
appeal for this year's International Conscientious Objection Day:
"Preventing wars instead of 'war capability'"
Quote: "We see conscientious objection as an important building block to overcome war and thus death and destruction in war.
We call for full compliance with the right to conscientious objection, also and especially in times of war.
We demand protection and asylum for all war refugees, persecuted conscientious objectors and opponents of war.
Our support goes to them!"
Wars have been raging across the country for decades, always under false pretenses.
How many lives have been put at risk, incited by media lies, stirred up.
We don't want war, let's stand up so that it no longer exists.
The peoples of Europe refuse this war in which there are only losers and no one wins.
We don't want war, let's stand up so that it no longer exists.
The peoples of Europe refuse this war in which there are only losers and no one wins.
Today, media reports are once again fomenting war.
Against Russia, against China and Iran, they are driving the peoples to their deaths in their madness.
We don't want war. Let's stand up so that it no longer exists.
The peoples of Europe refuse this war in which there are only losers and no one wins.
We don't want war, let's stand up so that it no longer exists.
The peoples of Europe refuse this war in which there are only losers and no one wins.
We will never go to war.
Deny him until there is peace.
We join together from hand to hand, encircling our entire country in love.
We will never go to war.
Deny him until there is peace.
We join together from hand to hand, encircling our whole country in love.