International holidays - International Day of Conscientious Objector

The emergence of this symbolic day was inspired by the initiative of people who justify their refusal to perform military service and who gathered like-minded people around the world. The first meeting of opponents of participation in armed conflicts on moral and religious grounds took place in 1981 in Denmark. Their activities were aimed primarily at justifying failed soldiers - participants in the Second World War, victims of the Nazi regime. The Bundestag - the modern government of Germany, with its resolution of May 15, 1997, gave these people a chance to rehabilitate themselves by changing and condemning Nazi language and methods. The military justice of the past fascist years was not at all loyal to the convictions of conscience: 25 thousand death sentences were carried out on deserters, thousands were sent to concentration camps. Modern states cannot justify such harsh punitive actions, although the problem of evasion from military service still exists. But in many countries of the world it is solved by a simple alternative replacement for civilian work. So in the Russian Federation this is an inalienable right of any citizen on the basis of the federal law of 2002. In some countries, such options that spare the feelings of pacifists are not provided. International Refusal Persons Day allows us to focus on this problem through educational events and actions by human rights activists. Rallies and processions held on this day by activists from different countries help to attract the attention of the population and involve the largest possible number of participants. The memorial stone erected on May 15, 1994 in London carries a message to the masses about the right “not to kill,” because Great Britain became the first state to legally recognize the possibility of pacifist beliefs among people who did not want to become soldiers. The memory of those who suffered cruelly from their worldview during the years of Nazism is immortalized by a memorial in Buchenwald. It opened on the anniversary in 2001, paying tribute to deserters and conscientious objectors, almost all of whom died here. Refusal from military service is a special right, the existence of which must exist in any legal state. The memorial day is the right moment for the OSCE, Amnesty International and other human rights defenders to convey this message to all people. The status of “conscientious objector” is reflected in the 1966 UN Covenant based on human rights. At the moment, 168 states are obliged to implement this international treaty.