Soldiers’ Mothers of Saint Petersburg offers educational sessions to conscripts, army recruits and family members of Russian soldiers to inform them of human rights violations by the military and the possibility of refusing conscription. They discuss human rights and the articles of the constitution that apply to conscription and learn how to write letters to the authorities demanding their rights. About 120,000 people have participated in the training sessions over 12 years and about 90,000 have protected their legal right not to serve in the army. About 5,000 people who were tortured in the army successfully petitioned not to return to their units.
