Welcome to
Kampanjen Mot Verneplikt's
(The Campaign Against Conscription)
Internet Service.

Except for this page and the page listing links and addresses, our internet pages are mainly in Norwegian and cover Norwegian conditions. On these pages you'll find a thorough and comprehensive guide for conscientious objectors to military service in Norway, anti-militaristic arguments and articles from back issues of our magazine "Basta!" - an independent publication for nonviolent struggle. A newspage will soon be added.

  • Who and what is Kampanjen Mot Verneplikt?
  • What we think about conscription
  • A few words about total objection and conscription
  • Facts about conscientious- and total objection in Norway

  • Addresses and links to other organisations
    •

    Kampanjen Mot Verneplikt (KMV)

    is a network for total objectors in Norway, with activists in Sweden and Finland as well. KMV is an associated member of War Resisters' International. KMV works for the abolition of conscription, our ultimate goal being the abolition of militarism. We encourage eligible draftees to total resistance, offering step by step assistance. Most of the work consists of distributing information on tactical options and the consequences of refusing compulsory national service.

    [Basta!] KMV has a flat structure with no members, leaders, or management. KMV is run by those who are active in the network at any given time. The highest organ is yet the "Grand Assembly", which is held about once a year. This is an opportunity for everybody in the network to come together to evaluate past activities and discuss future actions.

    We encourage people who are opposed to compulsory national service on a nonviolent basis, to launch actions and such in the name of KMV.

    KMV is politically and financially independent; we receive our income from our subscribers on Basta! and from the sale of KMV-merchandise.

    Conscription is slavery!

    In Norway there is conscription, as there is in half the nations of the world. It is demanded that young men make themselves available for the military machinery of the state and are willing to take the lives of others and jeopardize their own. Nobody can be forced into this system by sheer force; it is just as impossible to force a absolutely unwilling person use weapons as it is to make a bag of potatoes march. In order to manipulate a "voluntary cooperative" response, a long list of indirect pressure tactics - and luring carrots - are employed.

    Kampanjen Mot Verneplikt views the conscription system exactly like most people view slavery. Once upon a time, slavery was considered necessary, natural, and even decreed by God. This epoch continued for millennia, and it has not yet come to an end completely. Compulsory service in the modern sense, on the other hand, is only two hundred years old. We are convinced that sooner or later, most people will view conscription in the same way we look at at slavery today. One of our hopes is that this booklet of ours will do its share in helping to bring about this change a little sooner.

    The compulsory service system is totally dependent upon public support, participation and consent. Some people cooperate because they agree with the system, but the silent majority obey and surrender because they have not been informed about alternatives.Sporadic studies from other countries suggest that between 3 and 8 per cent would have volunteered if they had a free choice. This means that over 90 per cent end up completing compulsory service without making any conscious decision whatsoever. To a great extent, public ignorance about the conscription system is the explanation for this. This is a great advantage from the government's point of view; people are made easier to manipulate through ignorance and uncertainty. Most of them go right into the trap and believe that compulsory service is something they have to go through one way or another. In reality those who do not wish to serve may freely refuse. Refusal without unpleasant reactions may require a little initiative and patience, however.

    One reason why so many have so little knowledge of the system is that all other information in this field is either published by the government, it conforms to government regulations. Thus much important material is left out, and a lot of it is filled with disinformation. This is understandable; it cannot be espected that those who labor to make the system work should be busy handing out information which may cause it not to work. For this reason we must always be alert against all "information" coming from the government in this area. Even if it is not a complete lie, is may be a half truth. Yet the other half of this truth may be most important to you.

    Our point of departure is that conscription is wrong - and that regulations, or "the rules of the game", are consequently wrong as well. The freedom of conscience and the right not to kill cannot be set aside by laws and rules. Nobody has any duty to obey such rules. From this point of departure the perspective changes; you don't refuse when you do something that is your right from the start. It is those who make themselves available to the military system who refuse; they refuse to follow civilized rules for solving conflicts!

    A few words about total objection and conscription in Norway.

    A new phenomenon
    A new law against total objectors

    Total objection is distinct from regular conscientious objection by refusing to serve either in the military or in the civilian sector. Many object to civil service because to them, civil service is part and parcel of the conscription system that keeps the military alive and kicking.

    Many total objectors feel that the state has no prerogative whatsoever to force anybody to prepare for war, or to participate in war and in killings. The conscription as a system is rejected as a violation of the right not to kill. This right may not be set aside by any law.

    Because conscription is considered illegitimate, the government's right to enact sanctions against those who do not wish to serve is not recognized either, regardless of whether punishment or civil service is entailed by such sanctions. Some total objectors will not apply for exemption from military service; an application as such may be interpreted as an acceptance of military duty.

    A new phenomenon

    Total objection in Norway is a relatively new phenomenon. Except from a few isolated cases, total objection was not widespread in Norway before the early eighties. Only a minority of the total objectors were pursued to the bitter end; forced civil service in prison for 16 months with no trial or judicial verdict. The government did not even call it punishment (as mentioned above). This practice was a heavy burden on the government because of its blatant violation of normal administration of justice, facing considerable opposition. And in 1991 the new conscientious objectors' bill was introduced.

    A new law against total objectors

    The new law is a juxtaposition of total objectors with those who are not granted exemption from military service. In other words, a 90 days prison sentence for refusing to show up for "forced civil service", which is your first sentence. Forced civil service means that you have been sentenced to do civil service, having refused to do so in the first place! This system has established with regard to Jehovah's Witnesses who won¹t do civil service before they get a sentence telling them to do so.

    Having done time, you may be summoned to forced service again. If you refuse once more, the minimum sentence is one year in prison. From this one year sentence, nine months have been made suspended and three months mandatory. Nobody has yet been convicted twice for refusing civil service, but this has happened a number of times for refusing military service. Many have had their second sentences pardoned.

    Facts about conscientious- and total objection

    - About 2500 do their civil service every year. This is about 10 per cent of those who are conscripted to first time service.
    - In order to be exempted from military service, you'll have to go through a long process, including applications and police interrogations. The government is testing the applicants' moral convictions, and many are not believed concerning their pacifist philosophy. Such cases usually end up in court.
    - About 500-700 applications for exemption from military service are rejected each year. Some of these applicants end up in prison; meanwhile the majority is doing military service against their expressed will. The percentage of rejected applications have increased during the last years and has now risen to 25%.
    - the number of total objectors is unknown. There are no official statistics available, and neither the Department of Justice nor the Civil service Administration has any such figures; nor do they wish to do anything to acquire them. For this reason, we in KMV can only venture conjectures. We think the figure is around 100-200 annually. It may be higher. The Civil Service Administration informs us that between two and ten conscripts refuse to show up every week. It has also been released that up to 50 per cent of the conscripts don't show up. However you look at it, this amounts to hundreds each year Some still show up after a certain amount of pressure.
    - The Civil Service Administration is run (except the administration itself) at all times by people doing 16 months forced civil service.
    - It is now possible to do forced service like ordinary civil service in an institution or other recognized establishment. Many take advantage of this.
    - The largest group of forced conscripts are Jehovah's Witnesses. About 150 Jehovah's Witnesses are doing civil service through force each year.

    Conscientious inmates in Norwegian prisons

    It is a shame that Norwegian authorities still choose to have conscientious inmates. These prisoners are those who believe in a more peaceful world, who think that conflicts ought to be solved in ways other than by military means, and who by reason of conscience cannot participate in the training of killers.

    Since the summer of 1993, between 20 and 30 have done time in prison for total objection. About 100 have been prosecuted and may expect prison. The sentence is usually 90 days, and people may be punished twice.

    There was a pause in the imprisonment of total objectors from 1989 until the summer of 1993 due to the deliberation of a new conscientious objectors' law. Previously, total objectors were locked up for 16 months without even calling this a punishment. After pressure from among others total objectors, this practice was brought to an end. Yet some have still been behind bars for 90 days during this period. These are people who have not been exempted from military service. Some of these would have refused sivil service if they had been exempted. We are here talking about 2-5 cases annually that cause Norway to make Amnesty Internationals list of nations with conscientious prison inmates every year. But people who are behind bars for total objection are not adopted.

    [Home]