European Parliament votes in favour of conscientious objection in Turkey

On 8 September 2006, the European Parliament voted in favour of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey. The issue of conscientious objection was raised in an amendment that had been proposed by EBCO and was introduced into the report by the Green Group. The relevant paragraph reads:

The European Parliament,

(..) recalls that the European Court of Human Rights advised Turkey to prepare a new legal framework for conscientious objectors and reminds Turkey that the right to conscientious objection is recognized in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights; therefore welcomes the initiative by the Ministry of Justice to legalise the right to conscientious objection and to propose the introduction of an alternative service in Turkey; is concerned that in a recent judgement of the Turkish military court a conscientious objector to military service was sentenced to imprisonment and that the military court openly declined to follow a relevant ruling of the European Court of Human Rights; condemns the on-going persecutions of journalists and writers who have expressed their support for the of conscientious objection to military service;

Source: European Parliament report on 8 September 2006