Country report and updates: Netherlands
Issues
- Conscription is suspended. Little is know about the situation of professional soldiers who want to apply for conscientious objection.
Military recruitment
Conscription
The Dutch Constitution (art. 98) states: "1. The armed forces shall consist of volunteers and may also include conscripts.
2. Compulsory military service and the power to defer the call-up to active service shall be
regulated by Act of Parliament. "1.
Formally, conscription exists in the Netherlands, but in 1992 parliament decided to suspend the call-ups. On 29 February 1996 the last conscripts were called up to perform six months' service. After January 1997 there are no more conscripts. The Netherlands armed forces are now completely professional.
However, there is still a law on conscription ('Kaderwet dienstplicht')2,
which includes regulations for the compulsory registration of all young male Dutch citizens3.
Professional soldiers
Service of professional soldiers is regulated in the law on military personnel ('Militaire
Ambtenarenwet') from 19314, and the general military personnel regulations ('Algemeen militair ambtenarenreglement') from 19825. Since conscription has been suspended, all branches of the Armed Forces recruit volunteers, and do so using a variety of promotion tools. The Dutch army has its own recruitment website
(http://www.werkenbijdelandmacht.nl/),
as has the Air Force (http://www.werkenbijdeluchtmacht.nl/) and the navy (http://www.werkenbijdemarine.nl/).
Little is know about the recruitment practice of the Dutch Armed Forces.
Conscientious objection
Conscientious objection for conscripts
Conscription is suspended in peace time, but registration for conscription continues. In case
conscription would be enacted again, the right to conscientious objection exists. The right to conscientious objection is enshrined in article 99 of the constitution: “Exemption from military
service because of serious conscientious objections shall be regulated by Act of Parliament”6.
Conscientious objection is regulated with Law on conscientious objection to military service of 27 September 1962 (Wet gewetensbezwaren militaire dienst, Stb. 3707),
last amended on 1 September 2003.
Procedure
All conscripts who have been declared fit may apply for CO status. This means that registered
conscripts can not apply, as they have not had a medical examination.
Art. 2 of the Law on CO states: "Serious conscientious objection, in terms of the law, is insurmountable conscientious objection to the personal performance of military service bound up with the employment of violence means inherent in service in the Dutch armed forces"8.
This means that anyone seriously objecting to the use of violence in the Dutch armed forces, on religious, moral, ethical or even political grounds, can be recognised as a CO.
Application for CO status involves submitting a written notice. The applicant has to appear before a one-person committee, which considers the application, then advices the Minister of Defence, who makes the decision. If applicants are not recognised as COs, they receive a psychiatric examination and must appear before a three-person committee, which makes the final
decision.
Conscientious objection for professional soldiers
The law on conscientious objection to military service is drafted in a way that it only applies to
conscripts ('dienstplichtige'), but it has been reported that voluntary recruits can also apply for conscientious objection9.
According to 'Aanwijzing inzake Gewetensbezwaren militaire dienst' from 1 January 1994, volunteers will be dealt with in the same way as conscripts10, which means that the procedure as outlined before should also apply to voluntary soldiers.
However, little is known about recent practice.
According to the Ministry of Defence in 2004, professional soldiers who have conscientious objection to particular campaigns of the armed forces, for example deployment in Iraq, do not have the right to claim conscientious objection to participation in these particular campaigns. According to the Ministry, professional soldiers who have conscientious objection to a particular army campaign may only seek discharge from the armed forces11.
In addition, military personnel can apply to resign from service. However, according to article 12m of the law on military personnel, the Minister of Defence can turn down such an application under certain conditions12. This does not constitute a right to resign from service, as especially in times of war it can be expected that applications for resignation from service will be denied.
Draft evasion and desertion
penalties
Art. 36 of the new Law on military service (Kaderwet Dienstplicht) prescribes a maximum two-year prison sentence or a fourth category fine for failure to respond to the call-up. In wartime - when a call-up might be re-introduced - a five-year prison sentence or a 4th category fine13.
Art. 139 of the Military Penal Code (Wetboek van Militair Strafrecht) states: "1. A member of the military who refuses to or deliberately refrains from performing any service, of whatever sort, will be punished with a maximum of 2 years' imprisonment or a fourth category fine. 2. When the crime is committed in wartime the convicted person will be
punished by a maximum of 5 years' imprisonment or a fourth category fine"14.
Desertion in peacetime can be punished by a maximum 2 years' imprisonment or 4th category fine. In wartime the punishment is a maximum of 7.5 years' imprisonment or a 5th category fine. Often the maximum penalty can be doubled. (Military Penal Code, art. 100 and 101).
Practice
Not much is known about practice. However, in 2007 the appeal court in Arnhem acquitted a soldier who refused to deploy to Afghanistan15, after he had initially been sentenced to two months imprisonment16. There was also a second case of refusal, which lead to a prosecution17. However, a second person has also been finally acquitted in December 200718.
Notes
1The
Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2002 ,
http://www.legislationline.org/upload/legislations/4b/2b/28baad0cac8029e57aa9bc495538.pdf,
accessed 11 August 2008
2Kaderwet
dienstplicht, 13 March 1997,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0161_Kaderwet_dienstplicht.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
3Kaderwet
Dienstplicht, 13 March 1997,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0161_Kaderwet_dienstplicht.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
4Militaire
Ambtenarenwet, 19 December 1931,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0205_Militaire_Ambtenarenwet_1931_MAW.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
5Algemeen
militair ambtenarenreglement (AMAR), 25 February 1982,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wettennr01/0033-001_Algemeen_militair_ambtenarenreglement_AMAR.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
6The
Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2002 ,
http://www.legislationline.org/upload/legislations/4b/2b/28baad0cac8029e57aa9bc495538.pdf,
accessed 11 August 2008
7Wet
gewetensbezwaren militaire dienst,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0520_Wet_gewetensbezwaren_militaire_dienst_WGMD.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
8Wet
gewetensbezwaren militaire dienst,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0520_Wet_gewetensbezwaren_militaire_dienst_WGMD.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
9War
Resisters' International: Refusing to bear arms, country report
Netherlands, 15 April 1997,
http://wri-irg.org/co/rtba/archive/netherlands.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008; Quaker Council for European Affairs: The
Right to Conscientious Objection in Europe, 2005,
http://wri-irg.org/co/rtba/netherlands.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008. Voorlopig verslag van de vaste Commissie
voor buitenlandse Zaken, Defensie en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, 27
May 2008,
http://www.eerstekamer.nl/9324000/1/j9vvgh5ihkk7kof/vhv9pnyyxxhb/f=x.doc,
accessed 11 August 2008
10Aanwijzing
inzake Gewetensbezwaren militaire dienst, 1 January 1994,
http://mpbundels.mindef.nl/31_serie/31_112/31_112_1150.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
11Information
provided by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence, November 2004,
referenced in Quaker Council for European Affairs: The Right to
Conscientious Objection in Europe, 2005,
http://wri-irg.org/co/rtba/netherlands.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008.
12Militaire
Ambtenarenwet, 19 December 1931,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0205_Militaire_Ambtenarenwet_1931_MAW.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
13Kaderwet
Dienstplicht, 13 March 1997,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0161_Kaderwet_dienstplicht.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
14Wetboek
van Militair Strafrecht 1903,
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0473_Wetboek_van_Militair_Strafrecht_WvMS.htm,
accessed 11 August 2008
15Militair
vrijgesproken van dienstweigering, nu.nl, 12 April 2007,
http://www.nu.nl/news/1040668/15/Militair+vrijgesproken+van+dienstweigering.html,
accessed 11 August 2008
16Dienstweigeraar
krijgt twee maanden celstraf, nu.nl, 29 December 2006,
http://www.nu.nl/news.jsp?n=929680&c=15,
accessed 11 August 2008
17Nieuw
onderzoek dienstweigeraar Afghanistan, nu.nl, 12 March 2007,
http://www.nu.nl/news.jsp?n=1005028&c=15,
accessed 11 August 2008
18Hof
spreekt 'dienstweigeraar' Afghanistan vrij , nu.nl, 28 December
2007,
http://www.nu.nl/news/1370945/10/rss/Hof_spreekt_%27dienstweigeraar%27_Afghanistan_vrij.html,
accessed 11 August 2008
Recent stories on conscientious objection: Netherlands
In this presentation I will give an overview of the right to conscientious objection, its
legal practices and frameworks in the 27 European Union member states. Before I do so, I want to step back a bit and have a brief look at the existing international standards about the right to
conscientious objection, as these standards allow us to put the practices in the EU member states into a perspective.
Conscientious Objection to Military Service: Issues for the Country Report Task Forces - NETHERLANDS
Submission to the 94th Session of the Human Rights Committee: October 2008
Obligatory military service was suspended in the Netherlands in 1996, but the provisions governing such service, and the arrangements for conscientious objection, remain on the statute book. All males are required to register for military service; there is no provision for registering as a conscientious objector.
Views of the Human Rights Committee under article 5, paragraph 4,
of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights
- Sixty-seventh session -
Communication No 682/1996
Submitted by: Paul Westerman(represented by E. Th. Hummels, legal counsel)
Alleged victim: The author
State party: The Netherlands
Date of communication: 22 November 1995
The Human Rights Committee, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
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