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RIGHT TO CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION TO MILITARY SERVICE SHOULD BE GUARANTEED
IEWY News
http://www.iewy.com/41184-right-to-conscientious-objection-to-military-service-should-be-guaranteed.html
Feb 2 2012
The right to conscientious objection to military service should be
guaranteed in all parts of Europe
Strasbourg, 2/2/2012 - People should not be imprisoned when their
religious or other convictions prevent them from doing military
service. Instead they should be offered a genuinely civilian
alternative. This is now the established European standard, respected
in most countries - but there are some unfortunate exceptions, says
Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
in his latest Human Rights Comment published today.
The right to conscientious objection has been endorsed by the
Council of Europe ever since 1967 when a first Resolution on the
topic was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly. The recognition of
this right later became a requirement for states seeking accession
to the organisation.
Recently the European Court of Human Rights recognised in the case
Bayatyan v. Armenia that the right to conscientious objection was
guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention, protecting freedom
of thought, conscience and religion. This was another important step
for many conscientious objectors who are still persecuted in Europe
because of their refusal to perform military service.
In fact, the right to refuse military service for reasons of
conscience is now recognised in the vast majority of the 47 member
states. However, problems remain in some countries, where military
service is still an absolute obligation (at least for males) or
where the alternative service is under military control or has
a discriminatory or punitive character, for instance through the
requirement of a much longer service time.
Persecutions, imprisonments and ill-treatment
Among the 15 Council of Europe countries which retain the system
of conscription, no less than seven have put objectors in prison in
recent years.
In Armenia, for instance, conscientious objectors are still prosecuted,
convicted and imprisoned for their refusal to perform military service.
On a visit to an Armenian prison last year I discussed this situation
with a couple of young men who belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses
community. They explained that they had been sentenced because they
could not accept the existing form of alternative service as it was
administered by the military - an issue which was also raised by the
Venice Commission in its recent opinion on the proposed amendments
to the law on alternative service.
Azerbaijan undertook when joining the Council of Europe in 2001 to
adopt a law on alternative service. Though the Constitution guarantees
the right to conscientious objection, the corresponding legislative
framework has not yet been adopted.
There is therefore no alternative to military service. Conscientious
objectors have continued to be imprisoned when they have requested
to perform alternative civilian service outside military control.
This has recently been the case for Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a youth activist
and candidate in the 2010 parliamentary elections, who was sentenced
last year to two years in prison for evading military service,
despite his request to perform alternative service.
Turkey is the only country of the Council of Europe that does not
recognise the right to conscientious objection for conscripts,
and conscientious objectors are prosecuted and imprisoned for their
refusal to carry out military service. In several cases they have faced
repeated imprisonment until they completed their term of military
service. There have also been a number of reports of ill-treatment
of conscientious objectors in detention.
In the Ulke case, the Strasbourg Court found that the applicant's
repetitive convictions and imprisonment for having refused to
perform compulsory military service on account of his convictions as
a pacifist amounted to degrading treatment (violation of Article 3
of the European Convention).
Limitation of the right to freedom of expression
The problem in Turkey is compounded by restrictions to freedom of
expression. The Turkish Criminal Code (Article 318, formerly Article
155) has been used to prosecute non-violent expressions of support for
conscientious objection. This has given rise to several judgments of
the Strasbourg Court finding violations of Article 10 of the European
Convention on free speech.
The Court has held that a newspaper article with such a message
cannot be considered as incitement to immediate desertion. However,
the Turkish Criminal Code treats dissemination through the press
as an aggravating circumstance. Among many others, Halil Savda,
himself a conscientious objector, has been condemned several times
under Article 318 for speaking in public in favour of the right to
conscientious objection.
The agreed standards should be implemented
In a Recommendation on human rights of members of the armed forces,
the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers underlined in 2010 that
conscripts should have the right to be granted conscientious objector
status and that an alternative service of a civilian nature should
be proposed to them.
The message from this as well as from the case-law of the Strasbourg
Court is very clear: member states which have not done so should
introduce a genuinely civilian alternative service, which is not under
the control of the military, and of non punitive length and nature.
Conscientious objection is a human right. It is thus high time that
all member states complied with their commitments and recognised this
right effectively.
IEWY News
http://www.iewy.com/41184-right-to-conscientious-objection-to-military-service-should-be-guaranteed.html
Feb 2 2012
The right to conscientious objection to military service should be
guaranteed in all parts of Europe
Strasbourg, 2/2/2012 - People should not be imprisoned when their
religious or other convictions prevent them from doing military
service. Instead they should be offered a genuinely civilian
alternative. This is now the established European standard, respected
in most countries - but there are some unfortunate exceptions, says
Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,
in his latest Human Rights Comment published today.
The right to conscientious objection has been endorsed by the
Council of Europe ever since 1967 when a first Resolution on the
topic was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly. The recognition of
this right later became a requirement for states seeking accession
to the organisation.
Recently the European Court of Human Rights recognised in the case
Bayatyan v. Armenia that the right to conscientious objection was
guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention, protecting freedom
of thought, conscience and religion. This was another important step
for many conscientious objectors who are still persecuted in Europe
because of their refusal to perform military service.
In fact, the right to refuse military service for reasons of
conscience is now recognised in the vast majority of the 47 member
states. However, problems remain in some countries, where military
service is still an absolute obligation (at least for males) or
where the alternative service is under military control or has
a discriminatory or punitive character, for instance through the
requirement of a much longer service time.
Persecutions, imprisonments and ill-treatment
Among the 15 Council of Europe countries which retain the system
of conscription, no less than seven have put objectors in prison in
recent years.
In Armenia, for instance, conscientious objectors are still prosecuted,
convicted and imprisoned for their refusal to perform military service.
On a visit to an Armenian prison last year I discussed this situation
with a couple of young men who belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses
community. They explained that they had been sentenced because they
could not accept the existing form of alternative service as it was
administered by the military - an issue which was also raised by the
Venice Commission in its recent opinion on the proposed amendments
to the law on alternative service.
Azerbaijan undertook when joining the Council of Europe in 2001 to
adopt a law on alternative service. Though the Constitution guarantees
the right to conscientious objection, the corresponding legislative
framework has not yet been adopted.
There is therefore no alternative to military service. Conscientious
objectors have continued to be imprisoned when they have requested
to perform alternative civilian service outside military control.
This has recently been the case for Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a youth activist
and candidate in the 2010 parliamentary elections, who was sentenced
last year to two years in prison for evading military service,
despite his request to perform alternative service.
Turkey is the only country of the Council of Europe that does not
recognise the right to conscientious objection for conscripts,
and conscientious objectors are prosecuted and imprisoned for their
refusal to carry out military service. In several cases they have faced
repeated imprisonment until they completed their term of military
service. There have also been a number of reports of ill-treatment
of conscientious objectors in detention.
In the Ulke case, the Strasbourg Court found that the applicant's
repetitive convictions and imprisonment for having refused to
perform compulsory military service on account of his convictions as
a pacifist amounted to degrading treatment (violation of Article 3
of the European Convention).
Limitation of the right to freedom of expression
The problem in Turkey is compounded by restrictions to freedom of
expression. The Turkish Criminal Code (Article 318, formerly Article
155) has been used to prosecute non-violent expressions of support for
conscientious objection. This has given rise to several judgments of
the Strasbourg Court finding violations of Article 10 of the European
Convention on free speech.
The Court has held that a newspaper article with such a message
cannot be considered as incitement to immediate desertion. However,
the Turkish Criminal Code treats dissemination through the press
as an aggravating circumstance. Among many others, Halil Savda,
himself a conscientious objector, has been condemned several times
under Article 318 for speaking in public in favour of the right to
conscientious objection.
The agreed standards should be implemented
In a Recommendation on human rights of members of the armed forces,
the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers underlined in 2010 that
conscripts should have the right to be granted conscientious objector
status and that an alternative service of a civilian nature should
be proposed to them.
The message from this as well as from the case-law of the Strasbourg
Court is very clear: member states which have not done so should
introduce a genuinely civilian alternative service, which is not under
the control of the military, and of non punitive length and nature.
Conscientious objection is a human right. It is thus high time that
all member states complied with their commitments and recognised this
right effectively.