The right to reject military service on grounds of conscientious objection is protected under international human rights standards . However, many nations ignore this. Today, conscientious objectors are in prison or under house detention in Turkmenistan, Finland, Armenia, Israel, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Eritrea, Turkey and the USA.

Those who are punished for their conscientious objection include Natan Blanc, a conscientious objector in Israel, who is now in prison for the 10th time. Natan now holds the curious record of having been re-imprisoned for than any other conscientious objector in Israel. Natan refuses to join the Israeli military because he refuses to participate in human rights abuses against the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.

Recently, conscientious objectors and their families have also been subject to torture in Turkmenistan, and a pregnant mother of four has been imprisoned for ten months in the USA, having developed a conscientious objector between deployments to Iraq, having joined the US military voluntarily.

Many conscientious objectors are motivated by their religious, ethical and political beliefs. For many more, refusing to serve in the armed forces is the most visible way of rejecting militarism: that is, the belief that armed violence can solve conflicts, and that therefore states should maintain strong military capabilities - and be prepared to use them aggressively - to both 'defend' themselves and aggressively promote perceived national interests.

In the UK, supporters can take part in a vigil in Tavistock Square at midday, join a Quaker Meeting at 3.00pm in Portsmouth, hear a panel debate in Brick Lane at 7.00pm (as part of an exhibition about conscientious objectors in Turkey), and join an event in Birmingham on Saturday. Info on all these events can be found here: wri-irg.org/COsDay2013

Notes:
- The right of conscientious objection to military service has been recognised by the UN Human Rights Committee as part of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion enshrined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- War Resisters' International works for a world without war. We are a global antimilitarist network, with eighty member organisations in over forty countries. WRI exists to promote nonviolent action against the causes of war, and to support and connect people around the world who refuse to take part in war or the preparation of war. We committed to our 1921 founding declaration that 'War is a crime against humanity. I am therefore determined not to support any kind of war, and to strive for the removal of all causes of war'.