International Centre for civil initiatives “Our House” (Nash Dom), Belarus & Lithuania With the support of: International Fellowship of Reconciliation – Austria European Bureau for Conscientious Objection Federation for Social Defence, Germany Connection e.V....
Although in the middle of the war, Ukraine is planning to ease conscription requirements. If a person does not want to take up arms and go to the front line, he will be given...
The initiative to select a Peace Minister from among feminist women advocating for peace arose within the WILPF activists during the International Peace Summit “For Peace in Ukraine,” held in Vienna on June 10-11,...
Militarization of boys in Belarus starts long before their conscription to the military service. School, higher educational institutions as well as various “military patriotic” clubs take active participation in it. Soon, in all Belarusian...
“Something’s not quite right with that advertising poster…” That’s certainly what passersby strolling through the center of Berlin today were thinking. The communication guerrilla group “Asylum for conscientious objectors now!” (AfCOn!) altered almost 20...
On August 2, 2023, the Belarusian conscientious objector Ivan Strashkevich was deported from Lithuania to Poland, because Lithuania had recognized him as a threat for its national security due to his former military service...
On August 4, 2023, the International Peace Bureau issued a press release announcing the nomination of the Belarusian human rights organization Our House and its director, Olga Karach, for the Nobel Peace Prize in...
In Belarus, young people who refuse to serve in the army and take up arms are referred to by the stigmatizing word “evader”, a term originating from the Soviet Union. The implication is that...
It seems that in Belarus, so many young people are trying to avoid military service that the state is forced to take preemptive action. For instance, they intimidate potential draft evaders by holding public...
Traditionally, the Belarusian regime and their enforcers do everything to present conscientious objectors on mass media either as criminals, or as negligent people who just do not fulfill their obligations to the state. However,...