Conscription of people with disabilities

Although people with disabilities are generally exempt from military service, 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.

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.

Modern times

Numerous Ukrainians with disabilities have been drafted over the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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.

See also

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