No Means No
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UN Special Rapporteur on the situation with conscientious objectors to military service in Belarus.
«Connection e.V.», in partnership with «War Resisters’ International» (WRI), participated in the interactive dialogue with the Group of Independent Experts reporting on the situation of human rights in Belarus. The international advocacy coordinator of «Connection e.V.», Zaira Zafarana, took the floor in the plenary after the presentation of the report by Ms. Karinna Moskalenko, President of Group…
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Urgent: Belarusian conscientious objector Siarhei transferred to closed refugee camp in Lithuania
Belarusian conscientious objector Siarhei placed in closed Lithuanian refugee camp after asylum filing. On February 26, 2026 Belarusian conscientious objector Siarhei was taken to a closed refugee detention camp in Lithuania immediately after submitting his renewed application for political asylum. As you know, Siarhei filed a repeated asylum request today. His case has remained extremely…
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Manufacturing Consent: Military Service Propaganda and the Breakdown of Conscription in Belarus
Escalating propaganda masks structural failure of compulsory military service among Belarusian youth By 2025, state policy in the field of conscription in Belarus is increasingly accompanied by aggressive and intrusive public propaganda of military service. The intensification of such campaigns by senior officials and law-enforcement bodies indicates a systemic crisis of the conscription model, in…
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February 26, 2026: Belarusian CO Siarhei files a renewed asylum application in Lithuania
Belarusian conscientious objector Siarhei seeks protection again after repeated asylum refusals in Lithuania. 26 February 2026 marks an important moment in Siarhei’s case. We submitted a renewed application for political asylum in Lithuania for Siarhei, a Belarusian conscientious objector who has previously been labelled a “threat to national security” in Lithuania. His photo is attached…
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Belarusian Conscientious Objector Siarhei at Risk of Deportation from Lithuania to Belarus
Conscientious objector from Belarus faces deportation risk despite clear persecution evidence. This case concerns Siarhei, a Belarusian welder and trained engineer, and a conscientious objector to military service. Coming from a multi-generation family of military officers, he made a deliberate and principled break with that tradition, rejecting militarization and adopting a consistent anti-war and human…
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From Leisure to Training: Militarized Youth Camps in Belarus, 2025
Youth camps operate as transitional institutions, normalizing military discipline and pre-conscription training for minors. On 12 July 2025, it was reported that day camps and round-the-clock residential camps were operating in which servicemen conducted training sessions on the disassembly and assembly of assault rifles, radio communications, and fitting of military equipment. Prolonged Stay of Schoolchildren…
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Institutional Militarization of School Education in Belarus, 2025
Schools function as structured environments for early loyalty formation and pre–conscription military socialization. Within the school education system in Belarus, militarization acquires a systemic and multi–level character. Unlike the preschool level, where the emphasis is placed on the symbolic presence of law–enforcement bodies, schools are used as a space for preparation for future military service,…
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Militarization of Early Childhood Socialization in Belarus (Preschool Sector), 2025
In Belarus, institutions normalize military ideology among children aged three to six Militarization in Belarus begins already at the kindergarten level: children aged 3–6 are regularly exposed to military symbols and narratives, as well as to the direct presence of representatives of law-enforcement and military bodies. Formally, these practices are framed as «patriotic education», but…
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Annual Report Systemic Human Rights Violations in Belarus Denial of the Right to Conscientious Objection and Forced Military Service
How military logic in Belarus becomes a social norm from early childhood, displacing the right to refuse service. Submitted by “Our House” 2025 This report examines how, in 2025, militarization in Belarus has taken shape as a continuous system of state coercion that accompanies individuals throughout their lives. It traces how kindergartens, schools, military-patriotic clubs,…
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Our House Could Become a Platform for Alternative Service in Lithuania
Human rights defenders ask the Ministry of Defence to allow alternative service at “Our House”. Olga Karach, Director of the human rights organisation VšĮ “Our House Centre for Human Rights and Relief”, has sent an official request to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence asking for clarification of the rules and procedures for alternative service and…
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In Belarus, a Conscription Soldier Has Taken His Own Life
In Zhodino, 23-year-old conscription soldier Vladimir Maksimov has died – another tragedy that once again raises serious questions about safety, psychological support, and accountability within Belarus’s conscription system. In the city of Zhodino, on the night of 13 January 2026, 23-year-old conscription soldier Vladimir Maksimov took his own life. Vladimir was originally from Barysaw near…
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Belarus Escalates Repression Against Conscientious Objectors: Military Certificate Required for Passports and Driving Licences (from 11 February 2026)
Belarus is tightening repression by linking passports and driving licences to military registration, directly targeting conscientious objectors. From 11 February 2026, amendments to Presidential Decree No. 200 on administrative procedures come into force in Belarus. The changes were introduced by Alexander Lukashenko’s Decree No. 5 of 9 January 2026. They form part of a systematic…
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Our House submits OHCHR input on conscientious objection in Lithuania
Our House reports systemic barriers to conscientious objection and asylum protection in Lithuania. Our House Centre for Human Rights and Relief has submitted an official input to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) under the Call for Inputs on Conscientious Objection to Military Service. The submission contributes to the…
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Our House submits OHCHR input on conscientious objection in Belarus
Our House submits UN report on Belarusian conscientious objectors facing systemic persecution. Our House Centre for Human Rights and Relief has submitted an official input to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in response to the Call for Inputs on Conscientious Objection to Military Service. The submission contributes to…
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Inputs for OHCHR: Conscientious objection to military service in Belarus
Belarus systematically suppresses conscientious objection, expanding criminal penalties, militarization, and coercive recruitment while undermining international human rights standards. January 15, 2026 1. Brief summary Belarus maintains compulsory military service for male citizens of conscription age (18-27 years), with conscription generally taking place twice a year. IIn 2025, this is confirmed by official documents on spring…
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Belarusian Conscientious Objector Ilya Faces Immediate Deportation from Lithuania to Belarus
A Belarusian conscientious objector risks deportation despite pending international human rights proceedings. Ilya is a Belarusian citizen, asylum seeker, and conscientious objector who has refused military service on moral, political, and humanitarian grounds. After exhausting all national remedies in Lithuania, he now faces imminent deportation to Belarus. He left Belarus on 28 February 2022 after…
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Sign the Petitions to Protect the Viliya•Neris River and the Wild Baltic Salmon
The Viliya–Neris is one of the last largely intact river ecosystems in the Baltic region – a vital migration corridor for Wild Baltic Salmon and a lifeline for protected Natura 2000 habitats. Yet this living river is increasingly exposed to overlapping nuclear, ecological and infrastructural risks. The Astravets nuclear plant in Belarus – already associated…
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The Neris as a Front Line: Smuggling, Radiation, and Evacuation by River
Today, the very same river is viewed simultaneously as a migration corridor for wild salmon, as a possible evacuation route for a capital city, and as a channel for discharging future man-made risks from Belarus’s nuclear program. These scenarios are incompatible, and a choice must be made now. Together with the salmon, we tell the…
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Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Belarus
This UPR report, submitted for the 50th session in November, documents serious human rights violations in Belarus amid its hybrid involvement in the war in Ukraine — including the militarisation of children, systemic repression, and the erosion of civil liberties. It places particular focus on the persecution of conscientious objectors, deserters, draft evaders, human rights…
