Conscientious objection

CCPR/C/79/Add.86
19 November 1997

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16. The Committee notes the statement of the delegation of Belarus that legislation on conscientious objection to military service is envisaged. In this regard:

The Committee recommends that a law exempting conscientious objectors from compulsory military service and providing for alternative civil service of equivalent length be passed at an early date in compliance with article 18 of the Covenant and the Committee's General Comment No. 22 (48).

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CCPR/C/79/Add.84
19 November 1997

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11. The Committee expresses concern that Revolutionary Command Council Decree No. 115 of 25 August 1994 violates the provisions of article 6, paragraph 2, of the Covenant, which restricts the application of the death penalty to the "most serious crimes", by stipulating that the death penalty will be imposed on persons who have evaded military service several times, and that it contains retroactive provisions, contrary to article 15 of the Covenant.

The Committee therefore recommended that:

05/11/1997 1 Conscription

conscription exists

The northern part of Cyprus applies conscription, but its current legal basis is unclear. Probably the laws and regulations pertaining to it are derived from and similar to the Turkish military service laws.

military service

The length of military service is 24 months. [4] [1]

After completing military service, conscripts are called up for a few days reservist training annually until they turn 50 or 55.

05/11/1997 1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription is enshrined in the 1960 Constitution.

The present legal basis of conscription is the 1961 Military Service Law. [4]

military service

All men aged between 18 and 50 are liable for military service. [6] [7]

The length of military service is 26 months. [4] [8]

At the end of military service regular reservist training, lasting for from several days to several weeks, is compulsory up to the age of 50 and up to the age of 65 for officers.

05/11/1997 1 Conscription

conscription exists

Not much is known about the conscription system in the Republika Srpska. The legal basis for conscription was probably the Defence Law of the former Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. On 28 December 1996 a new Army Law was passed, and proposals for a fresh law on defence were discussed in early 1997. [9] [10]

military service

The length of military service is 9 months. It was reduced from 18 months with the passing of the new 1996 Army Law.

05/11/1997 1 Conscription

conscription exists

The present legal basis of conscription is unclear. Before 1996 the legal basis of conscription was probably the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Defence Law. On 6 July 1996 a new Law on Defence was passed, but not much information is available about it. [9]

Military service is performed in the armed forces of Bosnia-Herzegovina or in the Bosnian Croat forces (HVO). Both these forces are officially to merge into one in 1999.

Serdar Tekin of ISKD (Izmir War Resisters) reflects on the impact that Osman Murat Ülke's well-publicised conscientious objection has had in Turkey.

In Turkey, all men over 20 are required to do 18 months of what the Constitution euphemistically calls "Fatherland service". Despite our country's strong militarist tradition, for years there has been widespread avoidance of conscription: by buying oneself out; by taking advantage of deferments; by evading the draft; or by deserting.

Pedro Oliver of KEM-MOC (the Basque CO Movement) evaluates the prison experience of insumisos as a political tool.

From the very beginning, in 1989, MOC and other anti-militarist groups have endeavoured to make their total resistance campaign ("Insumisión") its own best antidote against state repression.

Bart Horeman reports: About 250 conscientious objectors - all of them Jehovah's Witnesses - are currently imprisoned In Greece Usually sentenced to four years, COs start their jail term in a military prison and are later transferred to a civilian one, where they can work in exchange for a sentence reduction. When they have completed two-thirds of their sentence, the rest is conditionally suspended.

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3. The right of conscientious objection

77. With regard to the third category of violations, the Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that the right of conscientious objection is a right which is closely linked with freedom of religion.

CCPR/C/79/Add.80
4 August 1997

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19. The Committee is concerned that in order to exercise the right to conscientious objection to military service, which is a part of freedom of conscience under article 18 of the Covenant, the application must be made in advance of the conscript's entry into military service and that the right cannot be exercised thereafter. Moreover, the Committee notes that the length of alternative service is twice as long as military service and that this may raise issues of compatibility with article 18 of the Covenant.

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CCPR/C/79/Add.79
4 August 1997

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