The Right To Conscientıous Objection in Europe A Review Of The Current Situation
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Subject
Military serviceAskeri servis
Vicdani ret, Avrupa ülkeleri
Conscientious objection, European countries
Author
Stolwijk, Marc
Date
2005-04Metadata
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Aware of the fact that conscientious objectors are still treated harshly in some European
countries and that the right to conscientious objection is not even recognized in all the
member states of the Council of Europe, the Quaker Council for European Affairs commissioned
this report to highlight the problems which still remain in Europe with regard to the right to
conscientious objection to military service.
This report provides an overview of the current situation in Europe. In recent years many
developments have taken place with regard to conscription and conscientious objection.
Several European countries have suspended conscription although by 2005 most European
countries still maintain conscription and most European young men are still liable to perform
military service. In many countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the former
Soviet Union, both legal regulations on the recognition of the right to conscientious objection
and actual practice are changing quickly. In other European countries, the right to
conscientious objection is still not recognized fully or at all and governments persist in harsh
treatment of conscientious objectors.
Although there is a wealth of information available about conscription and conscientious
objection in some countries, surprisingly little is known about others. Moreover, there is no
recent comparative survey on conscientious objection in easily accessible format. The last
survey of this kind was published in 1998 by War Resisters' International ('Refusing to bear arms
- a world survey of conscription and conscientious objection to military service'), which
answered the need of many organisations working on issues of conscription and conscientious
objection. This present report - although being geographically limited to Europe - will hopefully
answer a similar need.