Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel • Norway: The Parliamentary Ombudsman for the armed forces investigates possible rights violations ex officio, or following complaints received from armed forces members, and also conducts inspections of military units. • Romania: The Romanian Parliament has a dedicated Committee for Defence, Public Order and National Security. However, issues related to human rights – including those of service personnel – are overseen by the Committee for Human Rights, Culture and National Minorities Issues of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as the Senate Committee for Human Rights. • Slovenia: The Parliamentary Committee on Defence deals with all matters pertaining to the country’s defence system, as well as other related issues handled by the competent ministry. • Sweden: The Parliamentary Committee on Defence deals with all matters concerning military and civil defence, among others. • Switzerland: The Parliamentary Security Policy Commission is responsible for the armed forces, security policy and military peace support, among other matters. • The United Kingdom: The House of Commons Defence Select Committee examines the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies. To this end, the Committee may consult persons, papers and records, appoint specialist advisers, establish subcommittees, and meet and report from time to time. Legislation and the human rights of armed forces personnel Legislation may be utilized to set out in positive terms the civil, political and social rights of members of the armed forces. An example of a wide-ranging piece of legislation dealing with the rights of armed forces members is the Law of the Russian Federation on the Status of Military Personnel, which articulates human rights from freedom of conscience and religion to clothing supply (see Box 4.7). Box 4.7: Legislation on the rights of armed forces personnel (selected examples) Russian Federation 129 70 • Federal Law No. 76 on the Status of Military Personnel covers the following:129 • Article 5: Protection of the freedoms, honour and dignity of military personnel; • Article 6: The right to freedom of movement and choice of residence; • Article 7: Freedom of speech, participation in meetings, rallies, demonstrations, Federal Law No. 76 of the Russian Federation of 27 May 1998 (as amended) on the Status of Military Personnel.