To mark this year’s International Conscientious Objection Day, peace and human rights organizations have organized a concert in Berlin: For the unknown deserters.
200 chairs were filled with the names of people who are persecuted because of their conscientious objection and were unable to attend the concert. They represent hundreds of thousands of people who refuse to serve in various wars, evade service and desert. The concert was accompanied by speeches from national and international speakers from Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Angola.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT! THIS INCLUDES THE RIGHT TO ASYLUM!
Rudi Friedrich, Connection e.V.
Conscientious objection is not a fair-weather right that can be suspended at will. Conscientious objection is recognized as a human right and must be able to be exercised at any time. In view of the repression and persecution of all these people who choose life, we are also saying here and now: persecuted conscientious objectors and opponents of war need protection and asylum.
Artem Klyga (Russia)
The right to conscientious objection is not an abstract moral principle. It is a matter of life and death for thousands of people. It is a question of freedom for those who refuse to take part in violence — and who now live in hiding, in fear or in detention centers.
Andrii Konovalov (Ukraine)
Politicians wage war and talk about protecting democracy — but what could be a greater threat to democracy than disregarding such basic rights as the right to refuse to kill?
Ole Nymoen, author
I am not prepared to die for Germany’s borders and for any noble values that are being upheld at the moment. The states use you as human material to be burned for sovereignty in an emergency.
Or, New Profile (Israel)
Refusing military service does not mean being a hero. We don’t do it to be seen. We do it to use our privileges — to make the voices of those who suffer under occupation heard. And we do it not to be part of the injustices committed in our name.
Emanuel Matondo (Angola)
I come from a country that has suffered from decades of war, that has been left bled dry and destroyed. War and militarism are two siblings that promote and cement nationalist and racist attitudes such as hatred and exclusion.
Around 120 people took part in the action in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Together they commemorated those people who claim the right to conscientious objection — the right to refuse to kill — and in this way actively participate in resistance from below. This now applies to hundreds of thousands of people in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey and other countries. They are deserting, refusing to serve, refusing orders or evading recruitment.
A joint call was made to immediately stop the persecution of conscientious objectors and deserters. At the same time, the European Union and the German government were called upon to offer protection to persecuted conscientious objectors and opponents of war.
Photos of the campaign on Dropbox
ORGANISATORS
- Berlin Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime — League of Anti-Fascists
- Connection e.V.
- German Peace Society — United Conscientious Objectors
- International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War — Physicians in Social Responsibility
- International of Conscientious Objectors
- pax christi — Germany
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