Conscientious Objection to Military Service
QUNO worked for decades to persuade the United Nations to recognise the right of conscientious objection to military service. The first breakthrough came in 1989 with a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights recognising conscientious objection as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. QUNO continued to build on this with subsequent resolutions, in particular Commission resolution 1998/77, as well as working with the Human Rights Committee in relation to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
In November 2006 the right to conscientious objection to military service was recognised unequivocally by the Human Rights Committee, when deciding two cases from the Republic of Korea. The Committee held that the Government had violated Article 18 of the Covenant (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion) by failing to provide for conscientious objection. More information about this decision can be found here .
QUNO also works with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the applicable standards in relation to asylum for conscientious objectors, draft evaders and deserters.
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