CO UPDATE
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Editorial
Even before the present stand-off between Colombia on one side and Venezuela and Ecuador on the other side following Colombia's alleged incursion into Ecuadorian territory, the Colombian military increased its recruitment efforts. The present tension (see the statement of Latin American antimilitarists and conscientious objectors) will certainly not have a positive impact on the efforts of conscientious objectors in Colombia to claim their right.
This issue is longer than usual, and we cover extensively conclusion of the European Committee on Social Rights on the length of substitute service (see below). An article in a Turkish military journal, dating back to 2006, reveals the mindset of the Turkish military when it comes to the issue of conscientious objection - and their 'solution' to the problem: ban those who promote the right to conscientious objection. However, we know from the experience in many other countries that the right to conscientious objection cannot be denied indefinitely.
Andreas Speck
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CO-Update
Monthly email newsletter of WRI's Right to Refuse to Kill Programme
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Colombia: Illegal recruitment and conscientious objection
In the early weeks of 2008, Colombia experienced a wave of "batidas" - raids on youth on public places such as bus stations in order to recruit draft evaders or anyone without the appropriate military papers to the military. While this is the common form of recruitment in Colombia, there are indications that the level of batidas in the province of Antioquia was unusual.
The Colombian WRI affiliate Red Juvenil de Medellin (Youth Network of Medellin) reported several batidas in January and February. An eye witness reported:
"On 5 January at 5.30pm a squadron of the fourth brigade was present in the neighbourhood of Raizal, at the corner of calle 77 and calle 31.
They began to stop motorbikes, bicycles, and any youth who happened to be walking on the street ... they did not arrive as they did in the past on lorries, and taking men of buses, but this time they arrived on foot, without calling for attention ... they went in small groups, walking through the streets of the neighbourhood. They then put the young people on the sandy ground, the young between 16 and 20 years who they said had to define their military situation. [...]"
This is almost the usual procedure. The young are then brought on lorries to military barracks, where they will quickly be checked, and most will be recruited - unless they are obviously unfit for military service or carry papers with them that prove that they are studying, or exempt for other reasons. Although this might not always be sufficient.
Red Juvenil received similar reports from other parts of Medellin, and from Barrancabermeja, throughout January and February 2008.
The Colombian military claims that this practice is legal. According to Article 50 of degree 2048, the recruitment authorities have the right to carry out patrols to find draft evaders and/or persons who did not define their military situation. While - according to the degree - it might be legal to check people's papers, what usually follows is certainly illegal, and does not meet neither Colombian nor international legal standards. According to the law, those who do not define their military situation in time can be compelled to do so. However, the practice of taking those without military ID to the barracks to process them there directly deprives those youth of their right to a proper legal process, as they have almost no chance to claim legal exemptions, to submit any prove or other papers supporting their right to exemption, and so on. That this kind of process is illegal has also been stressed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in a decision on a case from Guatemala in 1993.
Another general practice shows that the military in fact is aware of the illegality of its recruitment. War Resisters' International knows from several cases that those recruited in this way are forced to sign up to three documents without being given the chance to read them (see for example the case of Carlos Andres Giraldo Hincapie), i.e. that there are no reasons for exemption according to article 28 of law 48/1999. With these signatures the military tries to cover itself against accusations of forced or illegal recruitment.
In a different development, Bogota conscientious objector Alvaro Pena had to present himself to the recruitment department of Bogota on 12 February 2008. Pena had previously declared himself a conscientious objector, and had communicated this to the recruitment department. In his declaration, he wrote:
"I, Alvaro, I declare myself conscientious objector, being conscientious that war will only end if many of us realise that through violence we won't reach peace or a healthy and tolerant coexistence. I declare myself an objector against any kind of oppression or human rights violation, and to be part of any kind of army, legal or illegal and being very clear that I wont take arms as a way of solving conflicts and that from today on I will work so that military service is no longer compulsory and that the military card wont be needed for any requirement. This position is not only for my own personal convenience, as I think about how many families and people could be fed and have their basic needs covered with what is spent only on one day of war. In addition I have experienced the senseless repression of the police."
Although he had declared himself a conscientious objector, the Colombian military maintained in its response to Pena's petition that there is no right to conscientious objection in Colombia, and that Pena would need to present himself on 12 February in order to define his military situation.
On that day, Alvaro Pena presented himself. The Bogota CO group reported on the events: "Álvaro Peña, colombian conscientious objector, was today February 12th at 9 am in the Villa de los Alpes´ Coliseum, to resolve his military situation. During the whole day, as part of millions of young men summoned by the military forces, Álvaro, tried to explain his case as a conscientious objector to the Major Dueñas, who was in charge of incorporation. Alvaró was rejected several times, and never listened to.
Finally, Álvaro was taken with 200 other young men, who had not resolved their military situation, into a closed room, where they remained until 9:30 p.m. when they were told that they must be there tomorrow again at 7:00 a.m."
On the next day, Pena again presented himself. After several hours, the military postponed his service, and ordered him to return on 20 May to "define his military situation".
Sources: Desde los primeros dias de enero el ejercito obliga a jovenes a ir a la guerra, enero de 2008, Relato de un joven que se niega a participar del ejercito, reclutado ilegalmente en Barrancabermeja, febrero de 2008, Reclutamiento de las fuerzas militares en los barrios populares de Medellín, enero de 2008, Reclutamiento forzado en el polideportivo de un barrio en Cimitarra, Magdalena Medio..., febrero de 2008, Accion Colectiva Objetores y Objetoras de Conciencia Bogota, emails from 13 February and 14 February 2008.
Turkey: Ban WRI website to solve conscientious objection problem
In an article published in the paper Stratejik Arastirmalar Dergisi No 8 of September 2006, a major of the Turkish military recommended to close down several websites promoting the right to conscientious objection, among them savaskarsitlari.org and wri-irg.org, the website of War Resisters' International. The article, titled "Turkey and the practice of conscientious objection" first gives an overview of conscientious objection in Europe, and then goes on to look at the situation in Turkey. The author complains that the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Turkish conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke is being used to make propaganda against conscription in Turkey. He writes: "Some non-governmental organizations contribute to this propaganda in one way or another. These organizations (e.g., Protestant Association for the Care of Conscientous Objectors, War Resisters International, European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, and so on) create publicity through their websites and international conferences, and could sometimes exert considerable influence on EU policies."
The author then goes on to claim that many conscientious objectors object for selfish reasons, "and that they are influenced by the culture and propaganda of foreign countries. It is therefore significant to take the proper measures in order to protect the youth from negative propaganda, and to inform our citizens adequately. Otherwise, the lack of proper information is highly likely to be exploited by individuals and organizations acting in bad faith."
The author claims that conscientious objection is "at odds" with Turkish culture. "As is well known, the mores and customs are among the unwritten sources of the law. Our positive law is also inevitably informed and influenced by our own culture. While conscientious objection might be acceptable to European culture, there is no doubt that it is at odds with our own cultural practices according to which, for instance, military service is conventionally considered to be a precondition for marriage, or mothers do not bless their sons unless they perform the service."
He then comes to the following conclusions, which we reproduce here in full:
"Several considerations follow from the above remarks:
a. Due to the increasing need for security, imposed upon us both by the geostrategical position as well as the current conditions of our country, also due to our cultural traditions, and as long as there exist threats to our internal and external security, it would not be appropriate to enact legislation acknowledging conscientious objection.
b. The acknowledgement of conscientious objection as a legally enacted right sould be considered only when our security needs become considerably less demanding. In such a case, the period and regulation of alternative service should be neither so short as to encourage nor so long and painful as to allow lawsuits against Turkey.
c. Taking into account the fact that conscientious objectors make effective use of the internet for their own purposes, in order to inform the public opinion properly the General Staff could consider to prepare a relevant section in its official website and register it in major search engines (e.g., www.google.com, www.alta-vista.com, etc.).
d. Legal steps should be taken to ban the websites promoting negative propaganda - beginning with those which exploit the title of the General Staff, such as “www.tsk-genelkurmay.com” and “www.genel-kurmay.com”, but also including “www.savaskarsitlari.org”, “www.wri-irg.org”, “www.mehmettarhan.com” and www.kurdishinfo.com .
e. Furthermore, the “National Security” classes offered in high schools could be properly put into use so as to protect the youth from the negative propaganda pertinent to conscientious objection.
f. Finally, it would be helpful to participate in the conferences held by foreign NGOs with a view to conveying our theses to the European public and underscoring the fact that the security-related needs and conditions of Turkey are not the same as other countries."
It seems at least some of the websites mentioned above are now defunct.
Source: Mu. Kur. Bnb. Ersin KAYA, “Vicdani Ret Uygulamasi ve Turkiye”, Stratejik Arastirmalar Dergisi, No. 8 (September 2006), pp. 35-42
European Committee of Social Rights condemns long substitute services
The European Committee of Social Rights has repeatedly dealt with the issue of the length of substitute service - especially in the cases of Greece and Finland. In recent years, it has taken up the issue on its own in several conclusions on country reports. We publish the relevant parts below (thanks go to the European Buereau for Conscientious Objection):
Estonia
"The Committee previously noted that legislation provided for alternative service to compulsory military service, but sought further clarification on the length of such alternative service. In December 2004 the length of alternative service was reduced to between 12 months (minimum) and 18 months (maximum) and is (according to other sources1) currently set at 16 months duration. Military service lasts between eight months (minimum) and 11 months (maximum).
The Committee recalls that under Article 1§ 2 the duration of alternative service may not exceed one and half times the length of military service. The Committee notes that according to the information available to it alternative service may amount to double the length of military service. The situation is therefore not in conformity with the Revised Charter on this point."
Finland
"Under the Military Service Act the length of military service is either 180, 270 or 362 days. According to the report the majority of conscripts perform at least 270 days (52.3 %) and 47.7 % perform 180 days. The duration of unarmed military service is 330 days and alternative civilian service 395 days.
The Committee has previously found that the situation is not in conformity with the Revised Charter on the grounds that the length of alternative service was more than double the length of compulsory service performed by the majority of conscripts (at that time 64,2 % of conscripts performed 180 days of military service. Although the situation has altered slightly during the reference period ,(see above), the Committee notes that it has only altered slightly and that the length of civilian service remains more that double the minimum period of military service which is under taken by almost half of all conscripts.
Therefore the Committee maintains that the length of alternative civilian service remains a disproportionate restriction on a worker’s right to earn a living in an occupation freely entered upon."
It has to be noted that since this conclusion has been published, Finland reduced the length of substitute service, but not sufficiently. The service has been shorted to 11 month from 1 January 2008 on.
Greece
"Since the case of Quaker Council of European Affairs v. Greece Complaint No. 8/2000 decision on the merits 25 April 2001 Greece has been found to be in breach of Article 1§ 2 on the grounds that the length of service alternative to military service is excessive. The legal regulations governing alternative military service have been amended over the years, although in its previous conclusion the Committee noted that the length of alternative service was still excessive in that it usually represented more than double the length of compulsory military service.
New legislation on this issue has again been introduced during the reference period; those who serve alternative civilian service instead of the average military service (or unarmed military service) are now liable to serve 23 months, instead of 30 months as was set previously (those who serve reduced armed service of nine months are now liable for 17 months instead of 25; those who serve reduced armed service of six months are now liable for 11 months instead of 20 and those who serve reduced armed service of five months are now liable for 3 months instead of 15). The length of full-armed military service is set at twelve months.
The Committee notes that the new legislation provide for a significant reduction in the length of alternative service; however it recalls that under Article 1§ 2 the duration of alternative service may not exceed one and half times the length of military service and consequently the situation in Greece can not be considered as being in conformity with Article 1§ 2 of the Charter."
Moldova
"According to the report the length of alternative service is 24 months, while the length of military service is 12 months.
The Committee recalls that under Article 1§ 2 the duration of alternative service may not exceed one and a half times the length of military service. The Committee therefore finds that the situation is not in conformity with Article 1§ 2 of the Revised Charter."
CO-UPDATE: the monthly email newsletter of War Resisters' International's The Right to Refuse to Kill programme || Index of past issues