(21.09.2023) On the International Day of Peace, September 21st 2023, War Resisters’ International (WRI), the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), International Fellowship of Reconciliation and Connection e.V. (Germany) urge the involved countries in the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine to mobilise for peace instead of war, and the EU and the international community to invest in diplomacy and negotiations instead of weapons and militarism.WRI, EBCO, IFOR and Connection e.V. call Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to safeguard the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as well as the right to freedom of expression, fully complying with the European and international standards, amongst others the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights. The right to conscientious objection to military service is inherent in the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, guaranteed under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is non-derogable even in a time of public emergency, as stated in Article 4(2) of ICCPR. (…more)
