How conscientious objectors are treated around the world? pt.3

I'm not sure if it's the same wave of motivation that took over me few days ago, or simply boredom, but here we are. Third post in three days, about the same topic. Anyway, let's look at how a few more countries treat conscientious objectors.

First, let's come back to Europe and look at the situation in Switzerland. The system itself is somewhat similar to Finland in that they have mandatory conscription for all men and an alternative civil service for conscientious objectors. The biggest difference is that instead completing their service in one go, most conscripts first go through basic training, after which they are moved to the reserves and required to complete refreshment training every once in a while, however, it's possible to complete your service in one term. The total length of service is around 9 months for average conscripts and longer for officers. Based on what I've read, the alternative service seems to be somewhat similar to that in Finland, meaning that it's completed in some organization deemed to be beneficial to public interests and there are no time limits for making the applications. However, just like in Finland, the service is longer than military service. The number of total objectors, meaning people who refuse both military and civil service seems to be fairly low and they can be sentenced up to 18 months in prison

The Swiss system has one more major difference to the Finnish one: Military exemption tax. People who are deemed medically unfit for service are required to pay 3% additional tax in compensation for not serving in the military or civil service. Based on what I've read, the only way to be exempt from the tax is if you have a certain type of disability or you're living abroad. The exemption tax is even imposed on total objectors, even after serving their jail sentence. In 2009 the European Court of Human Rights gave a decision regarding a Swiss person forced to pay the tax after being deemed unfit for service. The court found the practice as discriminatory and thus in violation of article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Despite this, the Swiss government hasn't fixed this problem.

Next, let's look at South Korea. South Korea does not recognize the right to conscientious objection and holds the questionable honor of having the highest number of conscientious objectors in prison. Every year anywhere between 400 to 700 people are imprisoned for refusing to serve in the military. Both the UN Human Rights Council and Human Rights Committee have repeatedly told the South Korean government to recognize the right to conscientious objection. Apart from this, multiple conscientious objectors have successfully filed complaints to the Human Rights Committee about their treatment, however, up to this point this hasn't caused change. Efforts by the South Korean government to create legislation to allow substitute service for conscientious objectors have faced opposition from the public, which has led to slow progress. Until 2001 conscientious objectors were officially considered as soldiers and tried in military courts and often times given multiple sentences. Since then, this has changed and they are tried in civil courts. Reservists who refuse reserve duty can still face repeated fines or imprisonment. 

Since we are in Korea, lets's also look at the situation in North Korea. This will be brief as there isn't much information out there. You can already guess that conscientious objection is not recognized under North Korean law. I couldn't find information on the punishments, but knowing this country, it probably includes forced labor for you and you family. Draft evasion and desertion is punishable by death. Statistics on the number of conscientious objectors, draft evaders and deserters are not available. Based on the stories of defectors from the country,  female soldiers are subjected to sexual violence and the treatment of soldiers is generally horrible, for example, they barely get enough to eat.

Last, let's take a look at Singapore. Just like the two previous countries, Singapore doesn't recognize the right to conscientious objection. Singapore actually hasn't ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 18 of which guarantees freedom of conscience, which also includes the right to conscientious objection. This however doesn't really matter, as freedom of conscience is also recognized in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), which Singapore has endorsed. The only group to consistently refuse service seem to be Jehovah's Witnesses, which has led to the Singapore government to actually ban the organization and all their materials in 1972, labeling the group a threat to law and order. Singaporean authorities have raided private homes where witnesses have held meetings and possession of their materials may lead to a year in jail. People who refuse service are tried in military courts, usually for around a year, after which they are told to enlist again. If they refuse again, the sentence is usually two years, meaning a total time served around three years. There is at least one more questionable fact about the Singaporean system: despite ratifying treaties that ban the use of child soldiers, in Singapore people as young as 16 are allowed to enlist.

As I said previously, I'm planning to leave this topic alone for a while. The point of this blog was for me to raise awareness on issues I care about and to went out my frustration with the world. While this topic is something I care about deeply, there are other issues I care about as well. I will return to this topic at some point, but for now, I'll set my sites on something else. Or at least that's the plan. I've already twice before made promises on future post, only to break them in the next post, so maybe I should just stop making promises. But, let's see what the future holds. 

Links to my previous two parts on this:

Part one: http://helvetinpastori.blogspot.fi/2017/11/how-are-conscientious-objectors-treated.html

Part two: http://helvetinpastori.blogspot.fi/2017/11/how-are-conscientious-objectors-treated_25.html
Part four: http://helvetinpastori.blogspot.fi/2017/12/finnish-conscription-pt4-how-reserve.html