• Home Page
• About CPTI
• CPTI Documents
• Court Cases
• Proposed Peace Tax Legislation
• International Declarations on CO
• Resources
• War Tax Resistance & Peace Tax Campaigns
  • Conferences
  • Documents
  • National Campaigns
  • Useful Links
  • News
• How You Can Help
• Memorials
• Contact CPTI

CPTI needs your financial support to continue this important work. Please send your contribution today.

How do you feel about paying
for war through your taxes?

Do you deeply object to being made to participate in killing other people?

Would you rather see your money spent on peace building initiatives?

Who We Are

CPTI is an international peace movement focussed on "Taxes for peace not war," seeking to direct taxes away from preparation for war and towards peace building.

Our mission arises from the deep affront to our con­sciences that people are made to partici­pate in war as combatants, civilian victims and through taxation. We are also moved by the common sense proposition that our taxes should be used to abolish war, not promote it.

The ethical principle of freedom of conscience, a moral imperative governing the behaviour of an individual, is central to the objectives and work of CPTI.

CPTI aims to win recognition of the right to con­scientious objection to paying for armaments, war preparation and war conduct through taxes.

CPTI also supports the rights of conscientious objectors of all kinds and the worldwide recognition of human rights as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (in English, new window; in 438 lan­guages, new window).

While CPTI is not an umbrella organisation of all war tax resistance and peace tax campaigns (WTR and PTC), it supports and links the work of the many national and regional campaigns. Visit our Global War Tax Resistance page for more information about the many other organisations around the world.

CPTI is constituted as a company (new window) under English law and is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (new window) of the United Nations.

What We Are Doing

We focus much of our activity on the UN, sub­mitting doc­uments to the United Nations Commit­tee on Human Rights (UNCHR) often relat­ing to specific countries and report­ing on their treat­ment of con­sci­entious objec­tors. Visit our CPTI State­ments to the United Nations page to find out more and read our submissions.

We are a central point of reference for WTR and PTC around the world and one of the means by which national campaigns communicate with one another and coordinate international action. Visit our National War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns page to find an organisation near you.

How You Can Help

CPTI needs supporters, because the more of us there are, the more we can impress officials in the UN and national governments with our constitu­ency.

• Join CPTI.
  If you are prepared to put some time into the organi­sation you can become a mem­ber. You would be expected to attend the meetings of the General Assembly, usually every two years, or send your proxy. You would share actively in our work and become involved in the General Assembly's decision-making process. Learn more.
   
• Join Your National Organisation.
  Find your national organisation on our National War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns page. If you know about a national organisation that is not listed on that page, please tell us about it.

Recent Developments

2016 International Peace Bureau (IPB) World Congress Held in Berlin

The IPB hold a triennial international conference in different countries around the world. This year it was held in Berlin: IPB World Congress program and reports (new window); report on CPTI participation (PDF, new window).

New Legislation in Germany and the U.S.

In mid-March of 2011, peace tax legislation was newly proposed in Germany and the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill was resubmitted in the U.S. Congress. (Information on 10 nations' peace tax legislation.)

The Case of Bayatyan v. Armenia

In July 2010, CPTI joined with four other international organizations to submit an amicus brief in support of an Armenian Jehovah's Witness's complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) under Article 9, Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (new window). It would be a major breakthrough if the ECHR were, at last, to acknowledge conscientious ob­jec­tion to military service as a human right in line with the UN Human Rights Committee. Read the brief (new window). We eagerly await the court's decision. More.

A Persistent Voice: A Book Review by Ruth Flower

Friends of Marian Franz, a co-founder of CPTI, published a book of her essays entitled A Persistent Voice: Marian Franz and Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation. Ruth Flower perused this collection of writings and described its treasures. Read the full review (new window). Visit the publisher's Web page (new window) for this book.

Republic of Korea—An Historic Decision

Following a landmark case, the UN Human Rights Com­mittee has now declared that conscientious objec­tion to military service is a pro­tected form of manifestation of religion, belief or conscience under Article 18 of the Inter­national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (23 January 2007). More.

CPTI Documents Submitted to the UN Since 2001

Complete listing: Links to the actual documents are on the CPTI Statements to the United Nations page.

Recent submissions: Oral Statement by CPTI to the 12th Session of the Human Rights Council, 18 September 2009

UPR Submissions for Armenia, Belarus, & Turkey, May 2010.

CPTI Submission to the 96th Session of the Human Rights Committee: July 2009: Conscientious Objection to Military Service: Azerbaijan, Chad, Netherlands, United Republic of Tanzania

CPTI Submissions to the 6^th Session of the UPR Working Group, December 2009: Cyprus and Eritrea

CPTI Submission to the 5^th Session of the UPR Working Group, April 2009: Chile

Oral Statements by CPTI: Adoption of UPR Reports on Colombia, Israel, Turkmenistan—Human Rights Council, 19 & 20 March 2009

Joint Statement by Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers) and Conscience and Peace Tax International, Human Rights Council, 16 March 2009

CPTI Submission to the 95th Session of the Human Rights Committee: March 2009—Conscientious Objection to Military Service: Australia, Chad, Rwanda, Sweden

...

CPTI Bulletins/Boletines/Bollettini