English

Young opposition activist in Homyel applies for permission to do civilian alternative to compulsory military service

Yawhen Yakavenka, a young opposition activist in Homyel, has applied for permission to do a civilian alternative to compulsory military service and for the local district military recruitment center to send him a summons in the Belarusian language.

Initially, the city recruitment center did not want to accept the application, Mr. Yakavenka told BelaPAN. "After being ping-ponged from one room to another, it was finally registered," he said. "I explained that I was not a draft-dodger by any means and only wanted to exercise my constitutional rights, including the right to alternative service."

Recruitment officers told Mr. Yakavenka that summons forms were only available in Russian. "However, we have two state languages and Belarusian-language forms should have been available," he said.

On January 14, Mr. Yakavenka complained to Homyel's Savetski district police department about being forcibly brought to a military recruitment center earlier in the day over alleged draft-dodging. Mr. Yakavanka denied having received any summons from the recruitment center.

In his application, Mr. Yakavenka asks for the recruitment procedure to be suspended until the complaint has been considered.

The Belarusian constitution’s Article 57 says: “It shall be the responsibility and sacred duty of every citizen of the Republic of Belarus to defend the Republic of Belarus. The procedure governing military service, the grounds and conditions for exemption from military service and the substitution thereof by alternative service shall be determined by the law." Article 36 of the Military Obligation and Military Service Law requires call-up commissions to offer alternative service.

In 2000, the Constitutional Court examined how Article 57 should be applied to those who seek to do alternative service “on religious grounds.” It called for the "urgent" adoption of an Alternative Service Law or an amendment to the Military Obligation and Military Service Law to introduce a mechanism for alternative service. It suggested that before such legal changes are made, the authorities should allow citizens to perform service that does not run counter to their religious convictions. The right to refuse to do military service is part of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed by Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Belarus ratified in 1976.

Despite Belarus` international human rights obligations, the constitutional guarantees, and the 2000 ruling of the Constitutional Court, no mechanism for doing alternative service has been introduced. In December 2004, the National Assembly rejected an alternative service bill.

Unless eligible for exemption or deferment, all men between 18 and 27 are required in Belarus to do 12 months’ or 18 months’ military service. //BelaPAN