Up amendment to CO law
SPEAKING exclusively to Cyprus Today, the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection’s (Ebco) Derek Brett, who attended Mr Karapaşaoğlu’s case as an observer last week, commented: “It is ironic that opposition to conscientious objection has always been greatest at time of war or potential war, just when it is most relevant. Thus in South Korea just last year did the Constitutional Court rule that it was protected by the freedom of conscience clause in their Constitution. Until then the popular argument had been that faced with a nuclear-armed neighbour it was essential that every man should be able to turn out with a rifle! The illogicality was that those who refused were shut up in military prisons, meaning that soldiers had to be taken away from the border to guard them. Likewise Azerbaijan, and until recently, Armenia. Even Finland was only recently persuaded to drop from its law the article which said that conscientious objection could be recognised only in time of peace.”
Mr Brett said it was internationally agreed, “most recently in UN Human Rights Councils in 2013 . . . that alternative service [for conscientious
“What needs to be done is to make it a professionalbased force.”
Deputy parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, of the main opposition UBP, explained why he would vote against the measure, saying: “We are in a ceasefire situation in Cyprus. The TRNC is not recognised. The Greek Cypriots are arming up every day, spending millions, and there are increased tensions over hydrocarbons. When there is, in fact, the need to strengthen our security forces, we are taking steps to weaken it.”
Mr Töre cited sources as saying the ICCPR itself left the issue vague, opening the door for limits so that the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” did not “infringe on public safety, order, health or morals”.
“Conscientious objection is a human right. However this cannot be applied to a country like the TRNC. There have to be limitations so that the rules on conscientious objection don’t restrict countries [like ours] who are in ceasefire conditions, at war, or where safety of the public is compromised.”
He claimed: “I’m aware not all 27 MPs of the government will vote in favour of this Bill, which could even cause a break-up of the government.”
UBP leader Ersin Tatar said on TV he believed the coalition partners were “trying to please the TDP base, who are particularly sensitive on this issue, because TDP has not so far got anything concrete out of this government”.
“They have done this to objectors] ‘must not be discriminatory or punitive’”.
“States have . . . often been tempted to test the genuineness of conscience by making the alternative less attractive than military service, usually by setting a longer duration,” he commented, adding that countries such as Denmark, and Germany before it abolished conscription in 2010, had met the best international standards by setting equal lengths of military and alternative civilian service.
Giving his view on the TRNC draft Bill, he said: “My friends in Cyprus tell me that the most alarming rumours about its provisions have not been realised.
“We in the international movement will be collaborating with our Cypriot colleagues in detail and suggesting ways in which it can be brought closer to the international standards — no discrimination, as mentioned above, no time limits for applying, no hostile crossexamination of the grounds for exemption, a genuinely civilian alternative service under civilian control, etc.
“We will be keeping your MPs up to the mark, but my personal advice to them would be to pass this legislation as quickly as possible.” change the agenda in the country, to cover up for all the price hikes and protests against them by the public,” he claimed.
Mr Tatar renewed his attack on the government in Parliament, demanding: “Why didn’t you ask for the Bill to be brought ‘urgently’ to the Assembly? Because you know it cannot find the support of 27 MPs.
“The Greek side is fighting for the removal of the entire Turkish army. This Bill only satisfies marginal groups and the Greek Cypriots.
“Conscientious objection may be an ECHR right, but it can only be granted when the time comes.”
Rebirth Party leader Erhan Arıklı claimed success for the Bill “will see an end to the existence of the security forces”.
“Who will guard our borders? If the law calls on every male to do military service, this is the law. Just like paying tax.”
Also opposing the measure are the TMT Freedom Fighters’ Association and TRNC Security Forces Retired Sergeants’ Association, which accused the Bill’s supporters of being “spokesmen for the Greek Cypriots” and blasted: “They want this while the dream of
Enosis [Union of Cyprus with Greece] is continuing, with an 80,000-strong Greek Cypriot army, and while all [of their] households have guns ready to be used against the Turks. This is the mentality in the South.”
Latif Akça, of the Rauf Denktaş Thought Association, rapped: “This law is not about conscientious objection; it’s about denying conscience.”
Cyprus Turkish Human Rights Association chairman Hasan Yılmaz Işık claimed the government “was not acting within the rule of law” and condemned ministers for having “taken a partisan viewpoint on an issue that is of vital life importance for the Turkish Cypriot people”.
Answering the suggestions that the amendment was currently “inappropriate” for the TRNC and might be seen as a “taboo” by a public accustomed to national service, Mr Uluçay countered: “I utterly disagree with this view. This human right is recognised by the world and by Europe, and cannot be limited because of the political nature of this country.
“Our people also want to be a part of the world, not separated from it. We are going to decide as the TRNC Parliament what we want, what is best for our people, as is done in developed countries, in a democratic process.
“This issue provides a different perspective for the military. If people have moral, religious or ethical reasons not to undertake normal uniformed service, this right has to be afforded to them.” LAST Thursday’s ruling by a military court in Lefkoşa, fining Halil Karapaşaoğlu 2,000TL for refusing to attend his third compulsory national service “refresher” training day, is the latest in a high-profile series of such rulings in the TRNC courts.
Mr Karapaşaoğlu, who vowed he would not raise a gun against “my friend Andonis”, has been given until noon on Monday to pay or face 20 days in jail, and says he expects to go to prison when he fails to pay up.
He declared his sentence a “national shame” when all four coalition partners had pledged, in their election manifestos a year ago, to establish the legal basis for conscientious objection.
In other ongoing wrangles on the issue, Murat Kanatlı and Haluk Selam Tufanlı have separately brought cases against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights over their refusal to participate in obligatory “refresher” mobilisation in 2010 and 2011.
They had demanded their case be sent to a civilian court instead of being heard by military judges, but that application was rejected last April by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that Security Forces Court judges were “appointed by independent institutions”, reached their decisions “without having been subject to pressure from anyone” and therefore there was “no concern” that Mr Kanatlı and Mr Tufanlı “would not have a fair trial”.
Mr Kanatlı, of the New Cyprus Party, a member of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (Ebco) and a leading figure in the campaign for a demilitarised Cyprus, served a 10-day jail term in 2014 after failing to pay a fine for refusing to do his annual military training in 2009.
Nuri Sılay is another conscientious objector who refused to pay and fled to South Cyprus in 2016 to avoid punishment. He now lives there in exile. The first to declare conscientious objection, in September 1993, was Salih Askeroğlu. Married to a Greek Cypriot woman with whom he has a daughter, he was jailed for three years and three months for refusing to undertake military service. His family were been deported to South Cyprus.