Ukraine/Russia: Exploring the right to be a conscientious objector

Arsenii Levinson on his FaceBook page.

Source: Facebook

The following post, on Friends House Moscow Facebook page, republished with permission, explores the issue of the right to be a conscientious objector in Ukraine and Russia.

"It is everyone's right to have anti-war convictions and to act in accordance with them."

In both Russia and Ukraine, there is a legal right to be conscientiously opposed to war and to do an alternative form of government service.

The right is more narrowly defined in Ukraine than it is in Russia, and, following Russia's invasion on February 24, President Zelensky declared all adult men eligible for combat duty, seemingly negating the right to alternative service.

Although many thousands of Ukrainians have volunteered for the army, some fewer thousands have also fled the country and the army, for a variety of reasons, most seemingly not connected with religious convictions. (One man said he had two nephews fighting in the Russian army and spoke of his horror of a fratricidal war).

Some Ukrainian officials are now suggesting that those religiously opposed to war might serve in non-combat positions, working as cooks or medical orderlies.

In Russia, about 400 men a year are approved for alternative service. Their government does not make it easy for them to do so. The following was written by Arsenii Levinson, a Russian, who himself did Alternative Service as a younger man; he is now guiding his step-son through the application process, which is full of bureaucratic snares.

Last week, I made a trip to the Draft Board with my stepson, Yan, who is a pacifist and an anti-miltarist. He recently turned 18 and, in his declaration of refusal to serve in the military because of his convictions, he wrote, that his decision was influenced, in part, by the start of the "special military operation" in Ukraine. The Board refused to allow him to substitute alternative government service (AGS) for military service.

In the very same place, at the Butovsky Military Commission, ten years ago, they at first refused to allow me to substitute AGS for military service, but then they reconsidered - someone in the Commission said that there wasn't anything for someone like me to do in the army. In the end, my anti-war convictions were accepted by the government despite the Draft Board.

They denied Yan actualization of his right to AGS - because of some procedural nit-picking. At the commission, I cried to convince them to make a difference decision, after all, even if they refuse him AGS, Yan will not go into the army. This week we will make a legal appeal - and, then, farewell, Military Commission.

Even under current conditions - in a time of de facto war, AGS is a real possibility, allowing every conscript not to go into military service.
It is everyone's right to have anti-war convictions and to act in accordance with them. This right exists not only on paper, and it will continue to exist, as long as there are those, who act on it and demand that it be respected. Right now, things are difficult. but it is important not to give up, not to be afraid and not to go into hiding. There is power in the right.

Russian rights workers have launched Telegram-bots to help those conscientiously opposed to military service. Please, spread information about them. We need as many people as possible learn about the possibility of conscientious opposition and to receive support.

In conclusion, a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's book, Slaughterhouse Five or the Children's Crusade: "I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in the slaughter, and that the news of the slaughter of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee. I have also told them not to work for companies which make massacre machinery, and to express contempt for people who think we need machinery like that."