wfn.org | Russian Court Exempts Conscientious Objector from Military Draft

["Beckett, John" <BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org>]

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
February 8, 2000
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Russian Court Exempts Conscientious Objector from Military Draft 
Novgorod, Russia ... [ANN] 

In what has been described as a "significant" ruling, a Russian court has
granted Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Eduard Siminiuk a religion-based
exemption from mandatory military service.  The January 26 ruling by the
Novgorod Regional Court upheld an already existing, but rarely implemented,
constitutional right for conscientious objectors to perform civil duties as
an alternative to military service. 
 
The Slavic Centre for Law and Justice (SCLJ), the Moscow-based civil rights
organization that represented Siminiuk in his appeal, greeted the decision
as a step forward for human rights in Russia.  Calling the decision "very
favourable" although "unusual for that category of case," SCLJ lawyers
Vladimir Ryakhovsky and Anatoly Pchelintsev are optimistic that the outcome
"may provide a good example [for courts] in the consideration of other,
similar cases." 

The right of an individual to opt out of military drafts on the basis of
religious convictions is enshrined in article 59 of the Russian Constitution
as well as the Freedom of Conscience and Religious Association law. However,
according to Tatiana Tomaeva, information officer at the SCLJ, theory and
reality have not always matched up on this issue, in part because there has
been no statutory mechanism in place to allow conscientious objectors to
undertake civil service in place of military duties.  Although a Civil
Alternative Service law has been proposed, it has not yet been adopted.  

Siminuik's first appeal from the decision of the drafting commission was
rejected by the Valdai City Court in the autumn of 1999.  The Novgorod
panel, however, declared this lower court ruling "illegal," calling it
incompatible with the constitutionally guaranteed right to belief-based
exemptions from military service. 

Tomaeva says this case is also significant for the relatively short time
taken to reach a final outcome.  "Many such appeals take a long period of
time, moving from one court to another, and being referred from higher
courts to lower courts," she says.  She adds that "red tape" and an often
"circular appeals process" can mean that conscientious objectors are caught
in a legal tangle that takes years to resolve.  

Victor Krushenitsky, Adventist Church religious liberty leader in the
region, says that in recent years a number of Adventists have benefited from
rulings in favor of the conscientious objector.  He cites a 1998 instance
where 16 students from Zaoksky Theological Seminary were granted a reprieve
after appealing to the regional court in Tula. 

Dr. John Graz, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the
Adventist World Church, has welcomed the Siminiuk decision. "Every person
must answer to his or her own conscience in matters of military service,"
says Graz.  "As a Church, we will continue to urge governments around the
world to recognize and protect individuals who cannot take up arms without
violating their religious convictions or strongly held beliefs." [Bettina
Krause]

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