Human Rights of Armed Forces Personnel Chapter 8: Conscientious Objection to Military Service Introduction: Issues at Stake This chapter provides an overview of the legislation, policies and good practices that various countries have adopted in dealing with conscription and the right to conscientious objection. OSCE participating States have taken a variety of approaches to this issue with some having a fully established legal right of conscientious objection without penalties, while others still treat conscientious objectors harshly. In a minority of OSCE participating States, the right is not recognized at all. Conscientious objection is an issue that arises mainly (but not exclusively) in states that conscript persons to the armed forces. After outlining the general issues that are raised by conscientious objection, this chapter discusses the growing recognition by international bodies of the right to conscientious objection, especially by the UN and the Council of Europe, as well as the relevant constitutional provisions of individual states. The remaining sections examine how different states recognize a variety of bases for conscientious objection, the availability of alternative service and the recognition of selective conscientious objection. Many people have religious, philosophical or ethical objections to the use of violence or the deliberate taking of life. Historically, these beliefs have been associated with religious groups, such as the Quakers (Society of Friends) or Jehovah’s Witnesses, but by no means exclusive to such groups. Within a democracy, people with pacifist or non-violent convictions are free to hold and propagate these views and to argue that state policy should adhere to them, such as by pursuing peaceful diplomacy rather than armed intervention. Moreover, the freedom to do so is recognized by protections for freedom of thought, belief and conscience found within international human rights treaties (these are discussed at greater length in “Chapter 9: Religion in the Armed Forces”). The question of conscientious objection is a narrower and personal one – it involves a person’s freedom to act upon their beliefs by refusing to join the armed forces or take part in military action. Naturally, where the armed forces of a state are made up entirely of volunteers, a person with conscientious objections can satisfy their conscience by not enlisting. In 2008, the Quaker Council for European Affairs noted that conscription had been suspended in 15 European countries in the previous decade, but remained in force in 22 European states.270 Since then, the trend among OSCE participating States has been more mixed. Germany suspended conscription in 2011, and in Lithuania, Norway and Sweden selective conscription 270 126 Quaker Council for European Affairs, The Right to Conscientious Objection in Europe: A Review of the Current Situation (Brussels: revised 2008), p. 3.