Conscientious objection to military service

Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/77



The Commission on Human Rights,

Bearing in mind that it is recognized in the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of 
person, as well as the right to freedom of thought, conscience and 
religion and the right not to be discriminated against,

Recalling its previous resolutions on the subject, most recently 
resolution 1995/83 of 8 March 1995, in which it recognized the right 
of everyone to have conscientious objections to military service as a 
legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience 
and religion, as well as article 18 of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights and General Comment No. 22 of the Human 
Rights Committee, adopted at its forty­eighth session in 1993,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General 
(E/CN.4/1997/99),

Recognizing that conscientious objection to military service derives 
from principles and reasons of conscience, including profound 
convictions, arising from religious, moral, ethical, humanitarian or 
similar motives,

Aware that persons performing military service may develop 
conscientious objections,

Recalling article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
which recognizes the right of everyone to seek and enjoy in other 
countries asylum from persecution,

1. Draws attention to the right of everyone to have conscientious 
objections 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;

2. Welcomes the fact that some States accept claims of conscientious 
objection as valid without inquiry;

3. Calls upon States that do not have such a system to establish 
independent and impartial decision-making bodies with the task of 
determining whether a conscientious objection is genuinely held in a 
specific case, taking account of the requirement not to discriminate 
between conscientious objectors on the basis of the nature of their 
particular beliefs;

4. Reminds States with a system of compulsory military service, where 
such provision has not already been made, of its recommendation that 
they provide for conscientious objectors various forms of alternative 
service which are compatible with the reasons for conscientious 
objection, of a non­combatant or civilian character, in the public 
interest and not of a punitive nature;

5. Emphasizes that States should take the necessary measures to 
refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors to imprisonment and 
to repeated punishment for failure to perform military service, and 
recalls that no one shall be liable or punished again for an offence 
for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in 
accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country; 

6. Reiterates that States, in their law and practice, must not 
discriminate against conscientious objectors in relation to their 
terms or conditions of service, or any economic, social, cultural, 
civil or political rights;

7. Encourages States, subject to the circumstances of the individual 
case meeting the other requirements of the definition of a refugee as 
set out in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, to 
consider granting asylum to those conscientious objectors compelled 
to leave their country of origin because they fear persecution owing 
to their refusal to perform military service when there is no 
provision, or no adequate provision, for conscientious objection to 
military service; 

8. Affirms the importance of the availability of information about 
the right to conscientious objection to military service, and the 
means of acquiring conscientious objector status, to all persons 
affected by military service; 

9. Requests the Secretary-General to transmit the text of the present 
resolutions to Governments, the specialized agencies and relevant 
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and to include 
the right to conscientious objection to military service in the 
public information activities of the United Nations, including the 
United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education;

10. Also requests the Secretary-General to collect information from 
Governments, the specialized agencies and intergovernmental and non­
governmental organizations on recent developments in this field and 
to submit a report, within existing resources, to the Commission at 
its fifty­sixth session; 

11. Decides to consider this matter further at its fifty-sixth 
session under the agenda item entitled "The question of conscientious 
objection to military service".

58th meeting
22 April 1998

[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XXII.]



 
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