An individual’s right to refuse active military service on the grounds of conscience is a “fundamental aspect of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion,” according to a recommendation passed by the Assembly of the Council of Europe. The recommendation, adopted late May, paves the way for the Council to call on member states to introduce legislation protecting the rights of conscientious objectors.

This is a “significant recommendation,” says Maurice Verfaillie, General Secretary of the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty, in Berne, Switzerland.  He says sections of the document are “far-reaching,” outlining the right of an individual to register as a conscientious objector both before, during, or after conscription. The recommendation also affirms the right of all conscripts to “receive information on conscientious objector status and the means of obtaining it,” and to receive “genuine alternative service of a clearly civilian nature” that is “not punitive in nature.”

“In the past, many Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses in Spain, Italy, and Belgium, have met great difficulties with military conscription,” says Verfaillie, who also serves as public affairs and religious liberty director for the Adventist Church in the Euro-Africa region. But even in countries where the right to conscientious objection is enshrined in law, it is sometimes applied in an unsatisfactory manner, he adds.  In Switzerland, conscientious objectors not only have to complete a term that is twice as long as those in active military service, but they also become ineligible to be employed as civil servants.

“I strongly support Recommendation 1518 of the Assembly of the Council of Europe,” says Verfaillie. “Let us hope that the right of conscientious objectors to be equal with other citizens will be pushed forward in the European states.” The Assembly’s recommendation will now be considered by the Committee of Ministers, who can invite the five member states that don’t have protection for conscientious objectors to introduce appropriate legislation.

The Council of Europe is an inter-governmental body with headquarters in Strasbourg, France. It helps establish European conventions and works for agreements between its 43 member states on major social issues such as human rights, education, health, and the environment.