Ethical aspect of doing the military service in civil institutions

The right of a conscientious objector is based upon fundamental human rights and derives from the freedom of thought and belief. The conscientious objection is a refusal to take part in those actions that the conscience of the objector does not approve. When the conscientious objection refers to the military service, it means a refusal to do one's military service under arms out of religious, political, philosophical, ethical or any other reasons. In Europe, it is considered that the conscientious objection officially started with the event when in 1672 Quakers rallied in the town squares and openly said to King George in public that they did not want to take part in his wars. On January 26, 1967, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the Resolution 377, which said that this right had to be granted to any person who do not want to do his/her military service for the reasons of conscience or deep belief. The United Nations Human Rights Commission recognized for the first time the right of conscientious objection on March 10, 1987, and in this connection, appealed to all its member states to apply it in practice. The respective approaches of states are different toward the above mentioned matter, from those that have had extremely precisely regulated legal and sub-legal instruments, to those who have regulated this matter partially or not at all. By issuing the Decree on Doing the Military Service in Civilian Institutions (applicable as of November 4, 2003), all requirements were fulfilled to enforce the right of 'conscientious objection' in our country. The European Bureau of Conscientious Objection (EBCO) was established in 1979 to coordinate and support the European organizations supporting the right of conscientious objection in doing the military service. In this connection, in July and August 2008, a survey was conducted on conscientious objectors on the territory of Belgrade, aimed to establish true reasons of conscientious objectors to apply for doing their military service in civil institutions. Most conscientious objectors gave the reasons that may be qualified as successful attempts of deceiving the draft commission.