Country report and updates: Mongolia
1 Conscription
conscription exists
The legal basis of conscription is the Universal Military Service Act. [2]
Military service is performed in the armed forces, the border guards, the internal security troops and the construction troops. [1]
Traditionally all men and women must undergo civil defence training. In 1982 there were 600 civil defence units, but it is not known if and how far civil defence training still goes on. [2]
military service
All men between the ages of 18 and 28 are liable for military service. [1]
The length of military service is one year. [1]
To match the reduction of the armed forces the length of service has been reduced from three years to two years in 1988, to one year in the 90s. [2]
Reserve service is required up till the age of 45. [2]
postponement and exemption
No information available.
recruitment
Military service is performed mainly at the age of 19 or 20.
Legal minimum enlistment age is 18. [3]
2 Conscientious objection
There is no known legal provision for conscientious objection.
3 Draft evasion and desertion
No information available.
5 History
Mongolia's defence policy used to be strongly linked to the Soviet Union's, their armed forces being mainly intended to supplement the Soviet forces in any possible conflict. Since the end of the Cold War the armed forces have been re-structured and considerably reduced from about 45,000 to 11,000 by 1997. [4]
6 Annual statistics
The armed forces comprise 11,000 troops, that is about 0.46 percent of the population. [1]
Every year about 25,000 young men reach conscription age. There are 6,100 conscripts in the armed forces. [1]
Sources
[1] Institute for Strategic Studies 1997. Military Balance 1997/98. ISS, London. [2] US Library of Congress 1989. Mongolia - a country study. Area Handbooks, State Department, Washington DC. [3] United Nations CRC/C3/Add 2. [4] Jane's Defence Weekly, 8 October 1997. Jane's Information Group, Coulsdon, UK.
Recent stories on conscientious objection: Mongolia
CCPR /C/MNG/CO/5 (...)
23. The Committee is concerned about the absence of an alternative civil service that would enable conscientious objectors to military service to exercise their rights in accordance with the provisions of the Covenant. The Committee is also concerned about the exemption fee that can be paid in lieu of doing military service, and the discrimination that may result therefrom (arts. 18 and 26 of the Covenant).
The State party should put in place an alternative to military service, which is accessible to all conscientious objectors and neither punitive nor discriminatory in nature, cost and/or duration. (...)
Source: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/CCPR.C.MNG.CO.5_en.doc
CCPR/C/79/Add.120
25 April 2000
(...)
16. The Committee regrets the absence of specific information on freedom of religion and beliefs and notes that, in its decision of 12 January 1994, the Constitutional Court considered that certain aspects of the Law on the Relationship between the State and the Church were unconstitutional.