Another blatant human rights violation by Russia: labelling the Movement of Conscientious Objectors as “Foreign Agent”

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), War Resisters’ International (WRI), the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and Connection e.V. (Germany) strongly condemn the listing of the Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors as “Foreign Agent” as of June 23rd 2023. This action is another blatant #HumanRights violation, a fundamentally discriminatory application of law that contradicts universally accepted human rights and #freedoms.

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation accuses the Movement of Conscientious Objectors of disseminating supposedly false information about the government's actions, decisions, and policies, in addition to opposing #Russia's #military actions in #Ukraine. For the current government of the #Russian Federation these allegations are sufficient to warrant the stigmatisation of the organisation.

The four organisations urge Russia to stop stigmatising human rights organisations and human rights defenders, and immediately and unconditionally release all those hundreds of soldiers and mobilised civilians who object to engage in the #war and are illegally detained and even ill-treated.

The right to #ConscientiousObjection 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.

Conscientious objection is a tangible contribution to #peace; therefore, the protection of this human right is even more crucial in wartime.

#antiwar #pacifist #pacifist #pacifism #antimilitary

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