Editing Conscientious objector (section)

==International law==
===Universal Declaration of Human Rights===
In 1948, the issue of the right to "conscience" was dealt with by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in Article 18 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]. It reads:

{{cquote|Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.}}

The proclamation was [[ratified]] during the General Assembly on 10 December 1948 by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against, with 8 abstentions.<ref>See {{cite web |url=http://www.unac.org/rights/question.html |title=Questions and answers about the Universal Declaration |access-date=2004-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912162219/http://www.unac.org/rights/question.html |archive-date=2012-09-12 }} under "Who are the signatories of the Declaration?"</ref>
[[File:Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Refusing to serve in the [[Vietnam War]], boxer [[Muhammad Ali]] stated, "I ain't got no quarrel with them [[Viet Cong]] ... They never called me [[nigger]]." in 1966]]
In 1974, the Assistant [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], [[Seán MacBride]] said, in his Nobel Lecture, "To the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights one more might, with relevance, be added. It is '[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights#"The Right to Refuse to Kill"|The Right to Refuse to Kill]]'."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1974/macbride-lecture.html|title= The Imperatives of Survival|year=1974|publisher=Nobel Foundation|access-date=2008-04-30}}</ref>

In 1976, the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] [[coming into force|entered into force]]. It was based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and was originally created in 1966. Nations that have signed this treaty are bound by it. Its Article 18 begins: "Everyone shall have the right to [[freedom of thought]], conscience and religion."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm |title=International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=2008-05-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705115024/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm |archive-date=2008-07-05 }}</ref>

However, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights left the issue of conscientious objection inexplicit, as in this quote from [[War Resisters International]]: "Article 18 of the Covenant does put some limits on the right [to freedom of thought, conscience and religion], stating that [its] manifestations must not infringe on public safety, order, health or morals. Some states argue that such limitations [on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion] would [derivatively] permit them to make conscientious objection during time of war a threat to public safety, or mass conscientious objection a disruption to public order, ... [Some states] even [argue] that it is a 'moral' duty to serve the state in its military."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wri-irg.org/books/co-guide-un.htm|title=A Conscientious Objector's Guide to the UN Human Rights System|publisher=War Resisters International|access-date=2008-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515162443/http://www.wri-irg.org/books/co-guide-un.htm|archive-date=2008-05-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 30 July 1993, explicit clarification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 18 was made in the United Nations [[Human Rights Committee]] general comment 22, Paragraph 11: "The Covenant does not explicitly refer to a right to conscientious objection, but the Committee believes that such a right can be derived from article 18, inasmuch as the obligation to use lethal force may seriously conflict with the freedom of conscience and the right to manifest one's religion or belief."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/I3k.htm|title=Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. Framework for communications. Conscientious Objection|publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|access-date=2008-05-15|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517135236/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/I3k.htm|archive-date=2008-05-17}}</ref> In 2006, the committee has found for the first time a right to conscientious objection under article 18, although not unanimously.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayefsky.com/pdf/korea_t5_iccpr_1321_1322_2004.pdf|title=HRC views in case Yoon and Choi v. Republic of Korea, communications nos. 1321-1322/2004|access-date=12 August 2017}}</ref>

In 1997, an announcement of [[Amnesty International]]'s forthcoming campaign and briefing for the [[UN Commission on Human Rights]] included this quote: "The right to conscientious objection to military service is not a marginal concern outside the mainstream of international human rights protection and promotion."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur01/004/1997/en/|title=Out of the margins: The right to conscientious objection to military service in Europe. An announcement of amnesty international's forthcoming campaign and briefing for the UN commission on Human Rights|date=31 March 1997 }}</ref>

In 1998, the Human Rights Commission reiterated previous statements and added "states should ... refrain from subjecting conscientious objectors ... to repeated punishment for failure to perform military service".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3b00f0be10.html|title=Conscientious objection to military service; E/CN.4/RES/1998/77; See Point #5|date=April 22, 1998|publisher=UN Commission on Human Rights|access-date=2009-12-09}}</ref> It also encouraged states "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 ..."<ref name="D. CHRISTOPHER DECKER, AND LUCIA FRESA"/><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/5bc5759a53f36ab380256671004b643a?Opendocument|title= Conscientious objection to military service; Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/77; see point *7|author= United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|date= April 22, 1998|publisher= United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|access-date= 2009-12-08|archive-date= 2018-11-19|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181119071939/http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/5bc5759a53f36ab380256671004b643a?Opendocument|url-status= dead}}</ref>

In 2001, [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] recognised the right to conscientious objection.<ref>[[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]], Article 10, 2</ref>

===Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status===
The Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status (the Handbook) of the Office of the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR) states:

<blockquote>171. Not every conviction, genuine though it may be, will constitute a sufficient reason for claiming [[refugee]] status after [[desertion]] or draft-evasion. It is not enough for a person to be in disagreement with his government regarding the political justification for a particular military action. Where, however, the type of military action, with which an individual does not wish to be associated, is condemned by the [[international community]] as contrary to basic rules of human conduct, punishment for desertion or draft-evasion could, in the light of all other requirements of the definition, in itself be regarded as persecution.<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/publ/PUBL/3d58e13b4.pdf Source: Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees]</ref></blockquote>