CCPR/C/117/D/2225/2012
incompatible with article 18 (1) of the Covenant. 12 It also recalls that during the
consideration of the State party’s initial report under article 40 of the Covenant, the
Committee expressed its concern that the Military Service and Military Duty Act, as
amended on 25 September 2010, does not recognize a person’s right to exercise
conscientious objection to military service and does not provide for any alternative military
service, and recommended that the State party, inter alia, take all necessary measures to
review its legislation with a view to providing for alternative service. 13 Accordingly, the
Committee finds that, by prosecuting and convicting the author for his refusal to perform
compulsory military service due to his religious beliefs and conscientious objection, the
State party has violated his rights under article 18 (1) of the Covenant.
9.5
The Committee notes the author’s claim under article 14 (7) of the Covenant that he
has been convicted and punished twice for his objection to perform compulsory military
service. The Committee also notes that, on 13 February 2012, Azatlyk District Court
convicted the author under article 219 (1) of the Criminal Code for his refusal to perform
compulsory military service, handing down a conditional sentence with one year of
probation, and that he was again convicted by Berkararlyk District Court in the city of
Ashgabat under article 219 (1) of the Criminal Code on 3 March 2015 and sentenced to two
years of “correctional labour”. The Committee further notes the author’s submission that
article 18 (4) of the Military Service and Military Duty Act permits repeated call-up for
military service and stipulates that a person refusing military service is exempt from further
call-up only after he has received and served two criminal sentences.
9.6
The Committee notes the State party’s assertion that the author’s claim that he was
convicted twice for the same offence is unfounded, because, inter alia, the two criminal
offences were committed at different points in time and comprise separate corpus delicti.
Therefore, the author can be held criminally liable for each of the offences.
9.7
The Committee recalls its general comment No. 32 (2007) on the right to equality
before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial, in which it states that article 14 (7) of the
Covenant provides that no one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence of
which they have already been finally convicted in accordance with the law and penal
procedure of each country. Furthermore, repeated punishment of conscientious objectors
for not having obeyed a renewed order to serve in the military may amount to punishment
for the same crime if such subsequent refusal is based on the same constant resolve
grounded in reasons of conscience (paras. 54-55). The Committee notes that, in the present
case, the author has been tried and convicted twice under the same provision of the
Turkmen Criminal Code on account of the fact that, as a Jehovah’s Witness, he objected to
and refused to perform his compulsory military service. Accordingly, in the circumstances
of the present communication, the Committee concludes that the author’s rights under
article 14 (7) of the Covenant have been violated.
10.
The Committee, acting under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol, is of the view
that the facts before it disclose a violation by the State party of articles 14 (7) and 18 (1) of
the Covenant.
11.
In accordance with article 2 (3) (a) of the Covenant, the State party is under an
obligation to provide the author with an effective remedy. This requires it to make full
reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights have been violated. Accordingly, the State
12
13
See Min-Kyu Jeong et al. v. the Republic of Korea, para. 7.4; Jong-nam Kim et al. v. the Republic of
Korea, para. 7.5; Atasoy and Sarkut v. Turkey, paras. 10.4 and 10.5; Young-kwan Kim et al. v. the
Republic of Korea, para. 7.4; Abdullayev v. Turkmenistan, para. 7.8; Mahmud Hudaybergenov v.
Turkmenistan, para. 7.6; Ahmet Hudaybergenov v. Turkmenistan, para. 7.6; and Japparow v.
Turkmenistan, para. 7.7.
See CCPR/C/TKM/CO/1, para. 16.
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