85 conscientious objectors fined 575 thousand lira in Turkey

Recommendations

Within this context, the report offers the following recommendations:

It is recommended that;

– conscientious objection to military service be recognized as a constitutional right, without delay, to ensure that legislation on conscientious objection does not come into conflict with other legal regulations and that such regulation is not made open to, possibly restrictive, interpretations of the executive and judicial bodies;

– legislation on conscientious objection to military service should be drafted in compliance with international human rights law as enshrined in the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union human rights instruments;

– an independent and impartial decision-making body to examine conscientious objection claims is established – in compliance with international human right law standards, in particular taking into account the requirement not to discriminate between conscientious objectors on the basis of the nature of their religions or belief;

– measures, that are compatible with international human rights law, are taken to provide a mechanism for the conscientious objectors who declare themselves as "total objectors";

– measures are taken to provide alternative service for those conscientious objectors who request it – various forms of alternative service compatible with international human rights standards; key features of the legislation should include the mechanism for determining the status of conscientious objection should be structured accordingly, and that any service that can be provided as an alternative to conscientious objection genuinely civilian in nature, neither deterrent nor punitive and non-discriminatory in effect;

– all criminal proceedings against conscientious objectors are ended, compensation is provided, all convictions regarding conscientious objection in the criminal records for disobedience, draft evasion, desertion, public statements, are expunged;

– official records are prepared in a detailed manner without missing information, in line with national procedures. Official records are entered and maintained on the national database and are accessible in e-devlet (e-state) system;

– statistics are kept on conscientious objection applications including the number of conscientious objectors, on monetary fines and criminal investigations, and convictions delivered in connection to conscientious objectors and shared with the public;

– measures are taken to ensure that the applicants are free from the risk of further prosecution and obligation of compulsory military service and can fully enjoy their political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. To this end, domestic laws, in particular the Law on Conscription, the Military Criminal Law, the Law on Civil Servants, Criminal Code, are reviewed with a view to remove all restrictions imposed on conscientious objectors in the exercise of the rights to be elected and to elect, right to education, opportunities to earn a living;

– the Constitutional Court

– follows ECtHR jurisprudence which recognizes the right to conscientious objection to military service as a fundamental human right, takes into account ECtHR judgments on this issue and decides on the numerous individual applications pending at the AYM, without delay;

– examines interim measures in detail and treats the issue in a manner that would prevent further harm to conscientious objectors;

– Regular training is provided for judges and prosecutors on international human rights obligations pertaining to the right to conscientious objection to military service to help ensure the compatibility of the domestic judicial proceedings with applicable international human rights standards;

– regular training is provided for relevant public authorities in the Ministry of Interior, in particular officers involved in GBT, General Information Collection and stop & checks.

To international human rights compliance control mechanisms:

– Keep compliance control of the right to conscientious objection to military service on relevant agenda including the CoE Committee of Ministers, UN Human Rights Committee, UN Special Procedures and the UPR;

– Follow up the implementation of UN HRC Opinion on Atasoy and Sarkut v. Turkey and UPR recommendations;

– CoE Committee of Ministers,

– continue to keep the Ülke group of cases on enhanced supervision track ask the Turkish authorities to report on the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court individual application mechanism to protect conscientious objectors to military service;

– ask the Turkish authorities to report on the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court individual application mechanism to protect conscientious objectors to military service;

– ask the Turkish authorities to provide information on how and to what extent the rights of conscientious objectors to education, security of persons, protection of property, right to vote and opportunities to earn a living are impacted due to evader/deserter status in law;

– ask Turkish authorities statistical information on conscientious objectors to military service.