Hungary

24/07/1998

1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription is enshrined in the 1989 Constitution, art. 70-H of which states: "Citizens, on the basis of their general obligation to defend the homeland, must perform military service or civilian substitute service, in accordance with conditions stipulated in the law."

The present legal basis of conscription is the 1993 National Defence Law (amended in 1997). [14]

Following the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact the armed forces have been reduced from 150,000 troops in 1990 to 50,000 in 1997. In order to be more compatible with NATO standards the proportion of professional soldiers has been increased. Abolition of conscription is, however, not anticipated. According to the government, conscription is needed because of Hungary's historic tradition and because a professional army would be too expensive. [4]

military service

All men between the ages of 18 and 30 are liable for military service. [1]

The length of military service is 9 months, 3 months in the case of conscripts having two children. The duration of service was reduced from 12 months in 1997 and from 18 months in 1990, in line with the reduction of the armed forces. [13] [14]

Reservists can be called up for command duties for not longer than 5 months every year and for retraining not longer than 30 days in every three years. [14]

postponement and exemption

Postponement is possible for students and for domestic reasons, up to the age of 30. (National Defence Law, art. 104). [4]

Exemption is possible for medical and domestic reasons, like those who are the sole family breadwinner and those with three or more children. [4]

Exemption seems to be granted quite liberally. During the 1992 autumn call-up, for instance, 40 per cent of conscripts were exempted for one reason or another. Especially in towns conscripts apparently strive hard to get exempted. [5]

recruitment

Call-up for medical examination takes place at the age of 18, followed by call-up for military service. There are four call-ups a year. [3]

Voluntary applications for military service can be made at the age of 17, with the consent of the parents. [15]

Only about 50 percent of liable conscripts are recruited (most of the other 50 percent are granted exemption). The percentage of young men who actually perform military service is much higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The Ministry of Defence stated in 1992 that most conscripts in the armed forces are socially disadvantaged young men, a lot of them being unemployed prior to call-up. [3] [5]

2 Conscientious objection

legal right

The right to conscientious objection is legally recognized since 1989. It is enshrined in art. 70 of the 1989 Constitution - spelled out above.

Its present legal basis is the 1997 Civilian Service Law, which more or less laid down the practice that had developed in previous years. According to the 1997 Law all reasons connected with important religious, ethical or other convictions can be recognized. [16]

right for whom

Conscripts may apply while serving, but only until the military oath is taken - usually three weeks after recruitment.

Applications can be made by reservists, up to the time they receive their reserve training call-up notices.

Professional soldiers can not apply for CO status. [2] [7] [16]

procedure and practice

Written applications must be made to the local government. Their decision may be challenged by the military authorities, but in fact this seldom happens. [10]

There is no consideration of individual applications, which are apparently granted if the word 'conscience' is mentioned. This means nearly all applications are successful. Rejection is usually the result of errors over form filling, but applications may be rejected if the applicant has an arms permit or has been convicted of a violent crime during the preceding year.

There is a right to appeal. [2] [4] [6]

Until 1993 consideration of individual applications by a board did take place. Since this was abolished, the number of successful applications has risen from about 50 percent in 1990 to 90 percent from 1993 onwards.

substitute service

The length of substitute service is 15 months (nine months plus an extra six months, as laid down in the 1997 Law). Before 1997 substitute service was one-and-a-half the length of military service (18 months compared to 12 months' military service). The new 1997 Law is thus relatively unfavourable for COs, which is believed to be due to lobbying by the Ministry of Defence which seems annoyed by the increasing number of COs in recent years. [16]

Substitute service is run by the Ministry of Labour and can be performed in both state institutions and NGOs, in health care, social institutions, environmental protection projects, cultural organisations, water management and human rights organisations. [11] [16]

Substitute service can be performed abroad, on the basis of bilateral agreements with other countries. [16]

Local labour officials decide where substitute service is to be performed. Owing to the lack of available placements it seems COs themselves may come up with their own suggestions. [2]

The wages of COs performing substitute service are mainly paid by the employing organisation. Wages are about 80 percent of the legal minimum income. [2]

It is also possible to perform unarmed military service in non-combatant units within the armed forces for a period of 9 months. Some 20 to 30 people a year choose to do this. [2]

3 Draft evasion and desertion

penalties

Under the criminal code draft evasion is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, and five to 15 years' in wartime (art. 336). [9]

total objection

Each year about 50 to 100 young men refuse to perform both military and substitute service, most of them Jehovah's Witnesses. In recent years Jehovah's Witnesses seem in practice to get exempted from military service.

Total objectors would normally be sentenced to six months' suspended prison sentences. [2] [7] [10] [12]

5 History

In the communist era the right to conscientious objection was not legally recognized. The Constitution stipulated that "treason, breaking the military oath (...) is betrayal of one's country and the people's cause, and is most severely punished by law". Refusal to perform military service could be punished by up to five years' imprisonment. In 1977 a law was passed which allowed members of the Nazarene sect to perform unarmed military service within the armed forces, which laid down a practice apparently existing ever since the 60s. In practice this law applied to Jehovah's Witnesses and Reformed Seventh Day Adventists too, but it was never extended to cover other religious groups like Roman Catholics. Nevertheless, hundreds of members of religious groups (mainly Jehovah's Witnesses) were imprisoned for refusing to perform (unarmed) military service.

In the 70s and 80s conscientious objection was mainly promoted by the Bokor communities, Catholic base communities aiming to promote non-violent resistance and to keep religious faith in the face of government repression. Between 1979 and 1989 about 30 Bokor members were imprisoned for openly refusing to perform military service. The leadership of the Hungarian Catholic Church, which traditionally supports the country's military establishment, did not support the Bokor communities. It declared on several occasions that Catholics should neither refuse nor condemn military service, which evidently legitimised increasing government repression of COs in the 70s and 80s.

There were not many known cases of non-religious COs. In 1988 the government revealed figures on the number and background of imprisoned COs at that time: 148 Jehovah's Witnesses, 6 Roman Catholics and only 4 who objected on non-religious grounds. [6] [8] [9]

Following a liberal revolt within the Communist Party in 1989 a new defence law was passed which provided for substitute service. In the following years Hungary adopted a more liberal policy towards COs than any of its East-European neighbours by not confining the right to CO solely to religious reasons, removing the decision-making on applications away from the Ministry of Defence and abolishing individual examinations of applications in 1993. [8]

6 Annual statistics

The armed forces comprise 49,100 troops (which is 0.48 percent of the population).

Each year about 78,800 young men reach conscription age. There are 30,200 conscripts in the armed forces. [18]

The following table gives the number of CO applications (and the percentage granted) in recent years: [7] [16]

1989 469 (48 %)

1990 235 (48 %)

1991 567 (53 %)

1992 386 (80 %)

1993 828 (88 %)

1994 1307 (91 %)

1995 1761 (87 %)

1996 4609 (90 %)

Every year about 50 applications for CO status are made by reservists.

Sources

[1] Tannert, C., R. Bachmann 1997. Military service and conscientious objection in Central and Eastern Europe in view of the extension of the European Union towards the East. Brussels. [2] EBCO 1996. Conscientious Objection in Central and Eastern Europe and the European Institutions, seminar 3-10 May 1996. European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), Brussels. [3] ECCO 1996. Compulsory military service in Central and Eastern Europe, a general survey. European Council of Conscript Organisations (ECCO), Utrecht. [4] Hungarian Ministry of Defence 1994. Response to Quaker Council for European Affairs inquiry, 29 April 1994. [5] Reisch, Alfred A. 1993. 'The Hungarian Army in Transition', in: RFE/RL Research Report, 5 March 1993, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague. [6] Weber, Thomas 1992. 'The Hungarian Peace Movement Today'. Unpublished paper. [7] Information provided by Alba Kör 1995. [8] Bebler, Anton 1993. 'Socialist Countries of Eastern Europe - The old orders crumble', in: Moskos, C.C., J.W. Chambers II. The New Conscientious Objection, from sacred to secular resistance. Oxford University Press, New York/Oxford. [9] Amnesty International 1991. Conscientious objection to military service. AI, London. [10] UNHCR Centre for Documentation and Research, 29 November 1995. [11] Hungarian TV1, Budapest, 8 April 1997. [12] Documentation from the International Conscientious Objectors Meeting (ICOM) 1993. [13] 'Army changes training after cutting military service', Hungarian Radio, Budapest, 16 May 1997. [14] 'Conscripts service reduced to nine months', Hungarian Radio, Budapest, 15 July 1997. [15] Hungarian Permanent Mission in Geneva 1997. Response to Quaker United Nations Office inquiry, 9 December 1997. [16] Country report by Alba Kör for the European Conscientious Objectors Meeting 1997. [17] 'Parliament passes law on alternative military service', Hungarian Radio, 8 April 1997. [18] Institute for Strategic Studies 1997. Military Balance 1997/98. ISS, London.

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