made by the participants in the
5th International Conference of Peace Tax Campaigners and War Tax Resisters,
at Hondarribia, Basque Country, Spain, 16-18 September 1994, concerning
The Right of Non Cooperation with Military Expenditure
All persons have rights and duties, both as individuals and as members of their community, and they also have the responsibility to hold those rights and duties in balance.
No person should be forced to violate a deeply-held conviction of conscience. Our concern is to contribute to the peaceful solution of conflicts; one aspect of this is our compelling concern for recognition of the right not to be involved, actively or passively, in the killing of our fellow human beings.
Most citizens are educated to believe that military measures are a necessary part of international relations. But we hold the strong conviction that nobody should support military preparations or actions, either by personal service, by contribution through taxation or by any other means We also hold it to be a violation of conscience that anybody should be forced into giving such support.
We appeal to our fellow citizens and governments to take legal measures to respect our conscientious objections to military expenditure. Our final aim is to abolish all military expenditure and activity. We must work together with all people in building a society in which armies are not existing anymore and in which all human rights are respected.
Hondarribia, September 18, 1994.