International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR submitted the following statement to the ongoing 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Human Rights Council, 46th Session Geneva, 9th March 2021
Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights
Oral statement submitted by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Madam President,
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2030)[1] are a universal call to action to protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. There are interconnections between all those goals and there is no way we can achieve them unless member States are willing to address injustice, social injustice, climate injustice and to stop wars.
We would like to highlight the concerning links between climate change, hunger, economic sanctions and exploitation, and armed conflicts.[2]
We hear of wars in too many places such as Syria, for instance, as well of violence against protesters such as in Myanmar, Hong Kong and Belarus.
Civil disobedience is a nonviolent tool to resist to violence and injustice; many groups around the world are engaging in nonviolent actions to ask their governments or regimes to respect and restore their human rights. Protesters cannot be shot.
We would also like to draw the attention of this Council to the protection of the right of those who refuse to kill which is still seriously lacking.
The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO)[3], highlighted in its annual report[4], that in 2020 conscientious objectors to military service continue to be persecuted and imprisoned in various countries.
In Turkey, Eritrea and Singapore, for instance, the right is not recognized. Turkish objectors are facing a situation of “civil death”[5] which excludes them from social, cultural and economic life.
[In other countries, like Turkmenistan, there is no alternative to compulsory military service[6].
In some countries where the right is formally recognized, like in Finland, Israel and Greece, the alternative service provided is often punitive in nature and the decision-making procedures are in contrast with the international standards.]
IFOR calls on all member States to protect the right to conscientious objection to military service in all countries.
Thank you.
[1] https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
[2] http://www.ifor.org/news/2020/5/19/ifor-open-letter-to-the-un-secretary-general.
[3] https://ebco-beoc.org/.
[4] EBCO’s annual report, covering the region of Council of Europe (CoE), is available at https://ebco-beoc.org/node/491.
[5] The situation of conscientious objectors is defined as “civil death” by European Court of Human Rights. (Ulke v. Turkey, application no. 39437/98).
[6] https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2025552.html.
IFOR actively collaborates with EBCO which is the European network for groups and organizations dealing with conscientious objection. EBCO offers support to objectors and engages on advocacy initiatives within the Council of Europe.
IFOR provides assistance at the UN and is currently collaborating with the EBCO's board for related issues.
The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO) was founded in 1979 as an umbrella organisation for national associations of conscientious objectors, with the aim of promoting collective campaigns for the release of the imprisoned conscientious objectors and lobbying the European governments and institutions for the full recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service.
EBCO, on an yearly basis, releases an Annual Report on the situation of conscientious objection in the Council of Europe geographical area.
You can find details on the 2020 Annual Report here
IFOR has been closely involved in the redaction of such Reports in the past years as part of the ongoing IFOR project on conscientious objection funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust - JRCT.
