Eighteen years after the European Court of Human Rights issued its first judgment in favor of conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe added a new one to its interim decisions on violations of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey.
In its resolution of 13.06.2024, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that the Turkish authorities continue to violate Articles 3 and 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, together with their persistence in not recognizing the right to conscientious objection. In its resolution The Committee mentioned that deeply regrets “that three of the applicants in these cases (Osman Murat Ülke, Yunus Erçep and Ersin Ölgün) are still considered draft evaders and continue to face the threat of criminal and administrative proceedings as well as numerous restrictions on their daily lives that amounts to a situation of “civil death”.
In its interim decision, the Committee recalled that all necessary measures should be taken to ensure that all negative consequences of the violations faced by the Ülke Group applicants are swiftly remedied. It stated that it should be ensured that the applicants are no longer subjected to any prosecution as draft evaders and called on the Turkish authorities to take action in this regard.
Recalling that the Turkish authorities continued to refer to “paid military service” and the shortening of the duration of compulsory military service in their briefings to the Committee of Ministers, the Committee emphasized in its interim decision that paid military service is not an alternative to compulsory military service. Stating that domestic law is insufficient to deal with situations arising from the refusal of individuals to fulfill their military service for reasons of conscience, the Committee stated that the persistence of violations experienced by conscientious objectors shows the seriousness of the situation.
With its interim decision, the Committee of Ministers called on the Turkish authorities to provide information on the issues addressed in the Ülke Group of Cases by the end of March 2025.
