News

ARTICLE - I recently had the privilege to travel to Colombia to share my experiences as a conscientious objector in the US military with youth in a country that has been struggling for the right to conscientiously object to obligatory military service for decades. It was a very moving and inspiring to see the tremendous efforts of numerous youth groups and sectors of Colombian society organizing to establish this fundamental human right. LEER MÁS...

PRESS - United Nations, Mar 10, 2011 (IPS) - World governments have spent an estimated $1.6 trillion dollars in 2010 on military operations, weapons, research and military aid, according the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). What would you do with this amount of money? By asking this thought-provoking question NGOs seek to strengthen the discussion about alternative ways for shifting and reallocating military spending in the run-up to the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) on April 12. LEER MÁS...

DOWNLOAD - Find here attached an electronic document in English and Spanish made by ACOOC. You can simply download and sign it in order to show your support to conscientious objection in Colombia and send it back to our office. Soon you will find here as well the oportunity to sign an electronic letter. LEER MÁS...

PRESS RELEASE - Gothenburg and Bogotá. Today Civis launches the international campaign "My mind is not a military target", together with the Colombian Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors (ACOOC), and supported by Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). Irregularities and illegalities in the process of recruitment for compulsory military service are still frequent on a daily basis in Colombia. Members of ACOOC are therefore currently on a tour in six different countries in Europe. LEER MÁS...

PRESS - When the United States provides massive aid and training to another country's army, our government becomes responsible for the human rights crimes their soldiers commit. This was brought home to me as I listened to some visitors to our nation's capital. "I always ask why they took away my son," said Flor Hilda Hernández, who wore a worn-out T-shirt with the faded photo of her son, Elkin Gustavo Verano Hernández. LEER MÁS...

An alliance of organizations CIVIS (Swedish), Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors, the Group of Public Interest Law (G-DIP) and the Center for Constitutional Justice School of Law Uniandes, persuaded the Court Constitutional recognition for the first time, the fundamental right to conscientious objection to compulsory military service. This demand was also supported by the Colombian Commission of Jurists and Colombian universities and social organizations and foreign READ MORE...