Together, we in No to Compulsory Military Service (Egypt) and New Profile (Israel) confirm our support of peace and of conscientious objectors in both countries, re-affirming the human right to freedom of conscience, faith and self-determination. We condemn the way both our governments treat conscientious objectors: Natan Blank, Emad El Dafrawi, and Mohammed Fathy.

Conscientious objector Natan Blanc, 19 years old from Haifa, was sentenced to 20 days of imprisonment for his refusal at the Induction Base in Tal-Hashomer April 18, 2013. This was the ninth sentence. Altogether he was sentenced to 150 days of imprisonment, since he declared his conscientious objection at the Induction Base in Tal-Hashomer November 19, 2012.

Kimberly Rivera, who was a member of the US military before developing a conscientious objection between deployments in Iraq, has an important hearing on 29th April.

A plea agreement has been reached between Kimberly’s lawyers and the military authorities. A hearing to determine the length of her sentence will take place on 29 April at Fort Carson, Colorado. She has been detained since September last year.

You can send an email asking for Kimberly to be released immediately here.

Nikos Karanikas is a very active and well known person. Many people came to attend his trial on 8 March, something that always presses the members of the court. It is maybe the first time that the president of the court allowed all the witnesses (10) to testify in Nikos' defence: normally, the courts do not accept more than 4-5.

International agreements duly put into effect bear the force of law. In the case of a conflict between international agreements in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms duly put into effect and the domestic laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail. Conscientious objector Ali Fikri Işık, was detained and arrested on 9th June 2012 in a hotel in Diyarbekir for being a 'draft-dodger'. Işık, who served 4.5 months in the Edirne Military Prison, and who has declared his conscientious objection in Kurdish in the military court, has continued to refuse the draft also after his release, but has appeared in court whenever sessions of his trial have been held. The military hospital, where he was sent, reported that Işık was 'suitable for military service'.