Brussels municipality celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Belgian law on Conscientious Objection

peace

The municipality of Watermaal-Bosvoorde (in Dutch) or Watermael-Boitsfort (in French), one the districts of the Brussels region, organized on Sunday 12 July 2015 a ceremony in the city hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Belgian Conscientious Objection law. The first Belgian Conscientious Objectors were recognised in 1965.

The Mayor Olivier Deleuze invited EBCO's Vice-President Sam Biesemans, who is also resident of the municipality, to speak at the ceremony about the history of CO.

Jean Van Lierde, the most famous Belgian objector (also first EBCO President), was also a resident of Watermael-Boitsfort. The municipality will commemorate him in 2015 with an exhibition and a film projection about him. Next year, it will be 10 years after his death. He was born in 1926.

This public recognition helps to remind us that COs have an important role in the promotion of Peace and Human Rights in our society.

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