Conscription of people with disabilities

Although people with disabilities are generally exempt from military service,^[1] conscription of people with disabilities has occurred on various occasions historically.

History

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, more than 480 people with intellectual disabilities were conscripted into the military of Imperial Japan.^[2]

Project 100,000 was a disability draft under the Johnson Administration. Men who had previously been rejected from military service due to physical or mental disabilities were re-classified and sent to the frontlines in the Vietnam War.^[3]

Modern times

Numerous Ukrainians with disabilities have been drafted over the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[4][5][6] The Ukrainian Defence Ministry amended the criteria for medical exemptions, reclassifying people with tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, thyroid disease and HIV to be fit for military service.^[7] On 22 October 2024, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy sign a decree which dissolved the medical examination commissions for determining the severity of disabilities that qualified for military exemptions.^[8] On 8 July 2025, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights published a report which acknowledged "systemic and documented human rights violations under martial law" which included the conscription of people with disabilities.^[9]

After Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced a mass mobilization of the Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela on 18 August 2025, Venezuelans with hearing loss were reported to have turned up.^[10]

The physical examination for conscription in North Korea had eased height criteria for military service, reportedly to 142 cm (4 ft 8 in) as of 2012.^[11][12]

See also

• Conscription
• Disability abuse
• McNamara fallacy
• Military service and conscription for autistic people
• Project 100,000