Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an 'individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service' on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.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. A conscientious objector is an 'individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service' on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. In some countries, conscientious objectors are assigned to an alternative civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. Some conscientious objectors consider themselves pacifist, non-interventionist, non-resistant, non-aggressionist, anti-imperialist, antimilitarist or philosophically stateless (not believing in the notion of state). On March 8, 1995, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/83 stated that 'persons performing military service should not be excluded from the right to have conscientious objections to military service'. This was re-affirmed in 1998, when resolution 1998/77 recognized that 'persons performing military service may develop conscientious objections'. A number of organizations around the world celebrate the principle on May 15 as International Conscientious Objection Day. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–industrial complex due to a crisis of conscience.