CO UPDATE

Editorial

Our apologies for the lateness of this issue of co-update, which should have been with you almost three weeks ago. This was due to a combination of other commitments, holidays, and sick leave of the staffperson responsible for the production of co-update. We therefore decided to make this issue a double issue, so the next co-update will only come out in early April.

However, there is lots to report, and there will be even more to report in April. This issue of co-update highlights the decision of the UN Human Rights Committee on the right to conscientious objection. This landmark decision will be used by CO movements all over the world to promote their right to refuse military service.
However, we are only too aware that a legal victory does not necessarily turn into political change, and the case of Turkey shows that a lot more of hard work and pressure is required, even after a landmark legal victory.
War Resisters' International will continue to support CO groups and activists all over the world in their struggle, and we ask you for your support to WRI. Thank you.

Andreas Speck

Upcoming events

15 May - International Conscientious Objectors' Day

International Conscientious Objectors' Day 2007 will focus on the situation of conscientious objection in Colombia. Already in April 2007, several groups of Colombian objectors will tour Western Europe to help to build and strengthen a support network for Colombian objectors. The central activities for International Conscientious Objectors' Day will take place in Medellin, Colombia, around 15 May 2007. Please contact WRI's Right to Refuse to Kill programme for more information.

WRI Seminar and Council 2007 in Israel

The annual WRI seminar and Council meeting will take place in Israel in 2007, probably in August. The theme of the seminar will be on militarism and gender. Please contact the WRI Office if you are interested in participating, and want to be kept informed.

CO-Update

Monthly email newsletter of WRI's Right to Refuse to Kill Programme
War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX, Britain; tel +44-20-7278 4040; fax +44-20-7278 0444; email co-update-editor@wri-irg.org

Subscribe/
Unsubscribe

To subscribe, you can go to the website of this list, or send an email.
To unsubscribe, send an email to co-update-unsubscribe
@lists.wri-irg.org.

Donate to WRI!

War Resisters' International depends on your donations to be able to carry out its work. Donate to WRI online now at wri-irg.org/en/donate-en.htm.

Landmark decision of UN Human Rights Committee on right to conscientious objection

The United Nations' Human Rights Committee passed a landmark decision on the right to conscientious objection when deciding on the individual complaints of two Korean conscientious objectors at its 88th session on October/November 2006.

In its decision, the Human Rights Committee concluded that the Republic of Korea had violated the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion as guaranteed by Article 18 of the ICCPR when denying the two applicants their right to conscientious objection.

A little background: South Korea does not recognise the right to conscientious objection. On 15 July 2004 the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that their is no right to conscientious objection, and 26 August 2004 the Constitutional Court came to a similar conclusion in a separate case (see co-update No 1, September 2004). With these two decision, the legal route in South Korea itself was closed.

The two cases that have been brought to the Human Rights Committee were two cases of Jehovah's Witness COs. Both had been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for refusing military service, and both their sentenced had been upheld by the Supreme Court in its decision on 15 July 2004.

The Human Rights Committee uses its decision to clarify some confusion around the issue of the right to conscientious objection:

• The Committee "also notes that article 8, paragraph 3, of the Covenant excludes from the scope of "forced or compulsory labour", which is proscribed, "any service of a military character and, in countries where conscientious objection is recognized, any national service required by law of conscientious objectors". It follows that the article 8 of the Covenant itself neither recognizes nor excludes a right of conscientious objection. Thus, the present claim is to be assessed solely in the light of article 18 of the Covenant, the understanding of which evolves as that of any other guarantee of the Covenant over time in view of its text and purpose." This clarification was necessary because exactly this argument had been used by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its judgement from 10 March 2005 on CO cases from Chile (see co-update No 13, September 2005). In this decision, the Commission wrote: "In summary, and as will be concisely reviewed below, international human rights jurisprudence recognizes the status of conscientious objectors in countries that provide for such status in their national laws.  In countries that do not provide for conscientious objector status, the international human rights bodies find that there has been no violation of the right to freedom of thought, conscience or religion."
• The Human Rights Committee also recalled its General Comment 22, "that to compel a person to use lethal force, although such use would seriously conflict with the requirements of his conscience or religious beliefs, falls within the ambit of article 18. The Committee notes, in the instant case, that the authors' refusal to be drafted for compulsory service was a direct expression of their religious beliefs, which it is uncontested were genuinely held. The authors' conviction and sentence, accordingly, amounts to a restriction on their ability to manifest their religion or belief. Such restriction must be justified by the permissible limits described in paragraph 3 of article 18, that is, that any restriction must be prescribed by law and be necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. However, such restriction must not impair the very essence of the right in question."
• "The Committee notes that under the laws of the State party there is no procedure for recognition of conscientious objections against military service. The State party argues that this restriction is necessary for public safety, in order to maintain its national defensive capacities and to preserve social cohesion. The Committee takes note of the State party's argument on the particular context of its national security, as well as of its intention to act on the national action plan for conscientious objection devised by the National Human Rights Commission (see paragraph 6.5, supra). The Committee also notes, in relation to relevant State practice, that an increasing number of those States parties to the Covenant which have retained compulsory military service have introduced alternatives to compulsory military service, and considers that the State party has failed to show what special disadvantage would be involved for it if the rights of the authors' under article 18 would be fully respected. As to the issue of social cohesion and equitability, the Committee considers that respect on the part of the State for conscientious beliefs and manifestations thereof is itself an important factor in ensuring cohesive and stable pluralism in society. It likewise observes that it is in principle possible, and in practice common, to conceive alternatives to compulsory military service that do not erode the basis of the principle of universal conscription but render equivalent social good and make equivalent demands on the individual, eliminating unfair disparities between those engaged in compulsory military service and those in alternative service. The Committee, therefore, considers that the State party has not demonstrated that in the present case the restriction in question is necessary, within the meaning of article 18, paragraph 3, of the Covenant."

In conclusion, the Human Rights Committee, "acting under article 5, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, concludes that the facts as found by the Committee reveal, in respect of each author violations by the Republic of Korea of article 18, paragraph 1, of the Covenant.

In accordance with article 2, paragraph 3 (a), of the Covenant, the State party is under an obligation to provide the authors with an effective remedy, including compensation. The State party is under an obligation to avoid similar violations of the Covenant in the future."

In effect, this will mean that South Korea will need to provide for the right to conscientious objectors, in order to avoid future violations of article 18, paragraph 1.

The decision is highly important also for other countries. While in the past the Human Rights Committee has routinely requested from states to introduce the right to conscientious objection where it doesn't exist when reviewing country reports, there has not been a decision on an individual case. The decision on the two South Korean cases establishes important case law, which can also be used by conscientious objectors from other countries. It can only be hoped that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will in the near future correct its decision on Chile from 2005, which is not in line with the view of the Human Rights Committee, and that also the European Court of Human Rights will in future decide on a CO case on the right to CO.

Source: CCPR/C/88/D/1321-1322/2004, 23 January 200

Turkey: conference on conscientious objection to military service

On 27 and 28 January 2007, an international conference on conscientious objection took place at Bilgi university in Istanbul. The conference was organised by a small conference committee, and supported by Amnesty International Turkey, Connection e.V., European Bureau for Conscientious Objectors, Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Human Rights Watch, Istanbul Branch Human Rights Association, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, War Resisters' International, and others.

More than 300 people participated in the two days of the conference, which opened with an overview on the experiences of conscientious objection movements, and went well beyond legal aspects of objection. It is especially noteworthy that gender aspects of militarism received special attention on the first day of the conference.

Other speakers described the international legal framework regarding the right to conscientious objection, which was clarified following the decision of the Human Rights Committee on South Korean cases above.

In the case of Osman Murat Ülke, who won his case at the European Court of Human Rights, it has to be noted that Turkey did not act after the court's decision. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which follows up on ECHR judgements, therefore noted in its meeting on 13/14 February 2007: The Committee "deplored the fact that the Turkish authorities had as yet taken no individual measure to put an end to the violation found by the Court, the applicant still being subject to an arrest warrant with a view to the execution of his sentence;

2. decided to resume consideration of this item at their 992nd meeting (3-4 April 2007) (DH), in the light of information to be provided on the individual measures, if appropriate, on the basis of a draft interim resolution to be prepared by the Secretariat;

3. invited the authorities also to provide information on the general measures taken or envisaged to remedy the shortcomings in the Turkish legislation identified by the European Court in this judgment." (CM/Del/Dec(2007)987 15 February 2007)

It will require much more pressure on Turkey to not only solve the situation of Osman Murat Ülke and many others in a similar situation of "civil death" (including Mehmet Tarhan), but for Turkey to also recognise the right to conscientious objection.

Croatia likely to suspend conscription

The Croatian government is discussing the suspension of conscription, and the transformation of the Croation military into a fully professional force. However, "this not the question of canceling conscription as a legal category, but implementing a new institution", said the Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic, adding if the need arises, in case of unpredictable situations, mandatory conscription will be reactivated. In related news it was reported that the Croatian Armed Forces are ready to deploy troops to Lebanon. Croatia committed to secure an engineering troop in international operations. A hundred soldiers are ready for a booster troop and a company of 150 soldiers for a one-year mandate. They would help in building civilian buildings, which were destroyed during the last war devastation in Lebanon. The government and the President’s Office will be notified about that plan very soon.

The number of soldiers in the Croatian contingent in Afghanistan should be increased by 30 people in the first half of the year. In June, during the regular forces rotation, the number of soldiers in Chancharan and Mazar-i-Sharif and ISAF command structures will increase.

These parallel developments show that the suspension or abolishment of conscription does not necessarily lead to less military operations. On the contrary, the suspension of conscription is seen as a step towards professionalisation of the military, which will lead to more deployments.

Sources: www.javno.com, 15.02.2007, www.javno.com, 11.02.2007, www.javno.com, 31.01.2007

Russia: New links between militarism and sex industry

Recent news reports from Russia point to links between militarism and the sex industry which have been previously not been noticed by feminists and antimilitarists alike. According to the Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg, young male recruits of a military unit in St Petersburg were forced into prostitution by their older peers. “Instead of having a well-earned rest, young recruits are ordered up by phone and delivered nightly to their top-ranking clients — including army generals,” said Ella Polyakova, head of the St. Petersburg arm of Soldiers’ Mothers, according to a report in the St Petersburg Times.

Bullying, extortion of money, physical abuse and rape in the Russian army have been documented, but the prostitution claim is new.

Potential prostitutes are carefully selected by older recruits, and those who resist are physically tortured, according to the recruit’s evidence that Soldiers’ Mothers has passed on to the military prosecutor’s office.

Soldiers’ Mothers visited the signal corps detachment seeking contact with two recruits described in the letter as phone-order prostitutes. But Polyakova was told both men were demobilized on medical grounds — one with Hepatitis C and one with HIV.

According to the evidence obtained by Soldiers’ Mothers, the young recruits-turned-prostitutes were either ordered up by phone, or woken suddenly at night after a client’s contact asked for a man of a certain build and looks.

In July 2005, a Yaroslavl-born recruit, Denis T., sent a letter to the Leningrad-district military prosecutor’s office describing the horrors of forced prostitution. The soldier, who is now back at home, compared his army service to brutal slavery.

“The older conscripts demanded money from us, and forced the newcomers to earn the money selling themselves on the street,” Denis wrote. “I really did not want to go. But in the end they got me and broke my will.

“At nights, they sent me — along with the others to that spot by the monument to Catherine the Great’s.”

The garden surrounding the monument is a well-known local cruising area for male prostitutes and those who seek their services.

“Drive past the monument of Catherine the Great on Nevsky Prospekt at night, and there is a good chance you see some of the guys described in the letter,” Polyakova said.

After the court case that followed, Denis was demobilized from the army but none of the pimps were punished.

Sources: The St Petersburg Times, 13 February 2007, BBC, 13 February 2007

Lebanon: an end to conscription

According to an article in the Lebanese Daily Star, "Civil War-era military conscription has officially been relegated to the annals of Lebanese history. On February 10, the Lebanese Army officially became an all-volunteer force. Law 665/2005, which officially ended conscription in Lebanon, was passed by Parliament two years ago but did not wholly take effect until Saturday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an army spokesperson told The Daily Star on Monday that 'from this day on' the army would replenish its ranks with volunteers."

However, in the case of Lebanon too, the abolishment of conscription might just mean a modernisation of the Lebanon military, to meet "modern security threats".

Sources: The Daily Star, 13 February 2007

Recent co-alerts

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

• ISR14913-190207: ISRAEL: Fifth prison term for woman CO Hadas Amit Mon 19 February 2007
• ISR14913-120107: ISRAEL: Third prison term for woman CO Hadas Amit Fri 12 January 2007
• ISR14913-020107: ISRAEL: Woman CO Hadas Amit sentenced to second prison term of 10 days Tue 02 January 2007