press release

Brussels, 2 January 2019

Brussels, 12 December 2018

EBCO welcomes the Resolution on the right to conscientious objection to military service in Europe which was adopted by the General Assembly of the European Youth Forum in Novi Sad, Serbia, 22-24 November 2018.

16 October 2018

Umut Fırat Süvarioğulları has to be free! Statement of VR-DER (Turkish Conscientious Objection Association) calling for the release of conscientious objector Umut Firat after 25 years of incarceration.

On the occasion of the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2018, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) emphasizes that conscientious objection to military service is as well a basic human right as a tangible contribution to peace; it is a concrete act of rejecting war and violence, and promoting peace and universal human values.

An investigation has been opened to our Co-chairman Merve Arkun, by Diyarbakır Office of the Chief Prosecution, due to the activities which were held on the 15th of May, The International Day for Consencious Objectors.
We had organised two-day activities on the 15th of May in 2016, and throughout the activities; we had organised a  press release and declarations of conscientious objection in front of Tahir Elçi city forest, with the title “We Do not Let Amed to Become a Garrison Town”.

Βρυξέλλες 29 Μαΐου 2018

Joint statement of 29 May 2018
Bearing in mind the scandalous fact that despite numerous appeals, Greek authorities have, for several decades, violated the human right of conscientious objection to military service, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and War Resisters’ International support the renewed call for a boycott of the Conscience Examination Committee (the special advisory committee which examines applications for conscientious objector status), which has been issued by the Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors.

Le Bureau européen pour l’objection de conscience (EBCO) présente son Rapport annuel 2017 sur l’objection de conscience au service militaire en Europe, à l’occasion de la Journée internationale des droits humains (10 décembre).

Brussels, 8 December 2017

In view of the International Human Rights Day (December 10^th) the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) publishes its new Annual Report “Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Europe 2017”.

Le Bureau européen pour l’objection de conscience (EBCO) a tenu son assemblée générale 2017 le 4 novembre au Centre multimedia communautaire chypriote, dans la zone tampon de l’ONU entre les deux parties de Nicosie, la dernière capitale divisée d’Europe.

Brussels, 10 November 2017

The 2017 General Assembly of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) was held on 4^th November in the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) in the UN buffer zone between the two parts of Nicosia, the last divided capital in Europe, in Cyprus.

Brussels, 31 May 2017

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection expresses its indignation for the forthcoming trial of Panagiotis Makris by the 3-membered Military Court of Thessaloniki on Thursday, June 1^st, for an offence of “insubordination” since 1990!
 

Βρυξέλλες, 20 Μαρτίου 2017

Το Ευρωπαϊκό Γραφείο για την Αντίρρηση Συνείδησης (EBCO), με την ευκαιρία της ανοιξιάτικης Γενικής του Συνέλευσης, υπενθυμίζει τις υποσχέσεις της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης για αντιμετώπιση των προβλημάτων στη νομοθεσία και τις διαδικασίες σχετικά με την αντίρρηση συνείδησης στην στρατιωτική θητεία, και προσφέρει τη βοήθειά του.

Brussels, 20 March 2017

The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), on the occasion of its spring General Assembly, recalls promises by the Greek Government to address shortcomings in its legislation and procedures regarding conscientious objection to military service, and offers its assistance. 

Athens 14/12/2016

On Monday 12 of December, a few days after the anniversary marking 30 years from the first declaration of refusal to enlist on ideological grounds of Mihalis Maragkakis, three new conscientious objectors proceeded to an unprecedented, as for Greece, massive refusal to be examined by the Conscience Examination Committee.