Chapter 2 Human Rights in the Armed Forces: Scope and Issues at Stake Objectives This Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel focuses on the human rights and fundamental freedoms enjoyed by members of the armed forces.1 The handbook is not aimed at setting new standards; instead, it seeks to contribute to the effective implementation of existing standards by presenting a number of models, or best practices, from within the OSCE region that demonstrate how military structures can successfully integrate human rights and fundamental freedoms. At the same time, necessary limitations on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of armed forces personnel are taken into account, bearing in mind the requirements of military life and national security. While recognizing that there is no single applicable model and that the particularities of individual contexts will always influence a given country’s approach, this handbook provides guidance to OSCE participating States by advancing models that have proven successful in a variety of countries. Approach: Citizens in Uniform The starting point for the handbook’s approach is the OSCE Code of Conduct on PoliticoMilitary Aspects of Security (see Chapter 4, “OCSE Commitments”). The Code of Conduct refers to the rights of armed forces personnel on several occasions, the most important of which is para. 32: Each participating State will ensure that military, paramilitary and security forces personnel will be able to enjoy and exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms as reflected in [O]SCE documents and international law, in conformity with relevant constitutional and legal provisions and with the requirements of service. This paragraph underlines the notion that the members of armed forces are entitled to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms subject to the limitations and duties of military service as provided for by the laws and/or constitution of the respective country. Other provisions of the Code of Conduct refer to the human rights of armed forces personnel, and in particular to human rights within the context of the political neutrality of the armed forces (para. 23); recruitment and call-up (para. 27); rights and duties, as well as exemptions from, or alternatives to, military service (para. 28); and the obligation of states to provide for appropriate legal and administrative procedures in order to protect the rights of military personnel (para. 33).2 1  In this handbook, the terms soldier, armed forces personnel, and servicemen are used interchangeably. This is not done to make a distinction between armed forces personnel of different ranks or with different jobs except where otherwise indicated. Furthermore, for reasons of convenience, the term serviceman or servicemen is used to refer to both men and women unless otherwise indicated. 2  The OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security is available at <http://www.osce.org/ documents/sg/1994/12/702_en.pdf>. For a detailed commentary on the Code of Conduct, see Victor-Yves Ghébali and Alexander Lambert, The OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security: Anatomy and Implementation (Leiden/Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2005). 17 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel