OHCHR and conscientious objection to military service

While the Covenant does not explicitly refer to a right to conscientious objection, in its general comment No. 22 (1993) the Human Rights Committee stated that such a right could be derived from article 18, inasmuch as the obligation to use lethal force might seriously conflict with the freedom of conscience and the right to manifest one’s religion or belief.

The Human Rights Council, and previously the Commission on Human Rights, have also recognized the right of everyone to have conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, as laid down in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (see their resolutions which were adopted without a vote in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2012, 2013 and 2017).

OHCHR’s work on conscientious objection to military service

OHCHR has a mandate to promote and protect the effective enjoyment by all of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, as well as to make recommendations with a view to improving the promotion and protection of all human rights. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has submitted thematic reports on conscientious objection to military service both to the Commission on Human Rights (in 2004 and 2006) and to the Human Rights Council (in 2007, 2008, 2013, 2017 and 2019). The latest report (A/HRC/41/23, para. 60) stresses that application procedures for obtaining the status of conscientious objector to military service should comply, as a minimum, with the following criteria:

1. Availability of information
2. Cost-free access to application procedures
3. Availability of the application procedure to all persons affected by military service
4. Recognition of selective conscientious objection
5. Non-discrimination on the basis of the grounds for conscientious objection and between groups
6. No time limit on applications
7. Independence and impartiality of the decision-making process
8. Good faith determination process
9. Timeliness of decision-making and status pending determination
10. Right to appeal
11. Compatibility of alternative service with the reasons for conscientious objection
12. Non-punitive conditions and duration of alternative service
13. Freedom of expression for conscientious objectors and those supporting them.