Ukraine: Information on military conscription and exemption from service, including alternative military service for conscientious objectors; whether members of the Orthodox Church can perform alternative military service (2014-November 2015)

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Conscription and Exemption from Service

According to sources, in 2014, the Ukrainian government reinstated the use of conscription in response to the conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the East (Peace and Justice 18 Oct. 2014; Foreign Policy 18 Feb. 2015; BBC 2 May 2014). According to the UNHCR, the mobilization continued throughout 2015 (UN Sept. 2015, para. 34). The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) (Bloomberg Business n.d.), citing Ukrainian news service TSN, reported in early November 2015 that Ukraine had begun its "autumn conscription," which had previously been postponed due to elections (UNIAN 2 Nov. 2015). The same source further states that the goal is to recruit 11,000 individuals aged 20 to 27 during the month of November and that those with "higher education" will serve one year and those without "higher education" will serve a year and a half (ibid.). The Guardian reports that Ukrainian men between the ages of 25 and 60 are eligible for conscription, with preference given to those with military experience (10 Feb. 2015).

According to the UNHCR, Ukrainian Law No. 3543-XII of 21 October 1993 On Mobilization Preparedness and Mobilization indicates that the following categories of people can be exempted from military draft during mobilization:

employees of State authorities; local self-governance bodies; enterprises, institutions and organizations blocked for the mobilization period; persons recognized as unfit to serve due to health condition subject to certification every six months; caregivers to three and more children below 18 years old; single parents of children below the age of 18 years; caregivers of children with severe disabilities; legal guardians and foster parents of orphans or children deprived of parental care; caregivers to spouses or parents in severe medical condition; and parliamentarians. (UN Sept. 2013, 14)

For information on penalties for refusing or evading military service, see Response to Information Request UKR105186.

2. Conscientious Objectors

Sources state that the Ukrainian military allows for alternative service for conscientious objectors (US 14 Oct. 2015, 5; UN Sept. 2015, para. 36; Equal Rights Trust Aug. 2015, 192) based on religious grounds (ibid.; UN Sept. 2015, para. 36). According to information posted on the website of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Article 35 of The Constitution of Ukraine states that

[n]o one shall be relieved of his or her duties before the State or refuse to perform the laws for reasons of religious beliefs. In the case that the performance of military duty is contrary to the religious beliefs of a citizen, the performance of this duty shall be replaced by alternative (non-military) service. (Ukraine [2015])

The 2004 summary version of the 1992 Law of Ukraine "'On Alternative (Non-Military) Service'," as found on the website of the Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF), a Kyiv-based human rights NGO that assists "in the realization of freedom of conscience, religion, beliefs and other related human rights…and dissemination of information on the status of the law and religious life" in Ukraine (IRF n.d.), states that

[c]itizens shall do alternative service on the enterprises which are in state or communal ownership or dominant part in the state fund of which is in the state or communal ownership. Activity of such enterprises shall be related to social protection of population, health protection, environmental protection, building, housing and communal services, and agriculture. Besides, alternative service may be conducted in medical attendance service in Red Cross organizations of Ukraine. Labour relations between the citizen who does military service and enterprise shall be maintained on the basis of written fixed-date labour agreement. (Ukraine 2004)

Further information on the details of alternative non-military service could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

According to a report by Equal Rights Trust[1], which was written in partnership with the LGBT Human Right Centre Nash Mir, the religious groups that are able to claim conscientious objector status, on the basis that their religious organisations do not allow their members to bear arms, are: Adventist Reform Church, Seventh Day Adventists, Evangelical Christians, Evangelical Christian-Baptists, the Slavic Church of the Holy Spirit (Pokutnyky), Jehovah's Witnesses, the Charismatic Christian Churches and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Equal Rights Trust Aug. 2015, 192). An excerpt from the forthcoming (2016) book Free Radicals: War Resisters in Prison, by CJ Hinke, as found on the website of World Beyond War, a "global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace" (World Beyond War n.d.b), similarly indicates that in Ukraine, those who are able to claim religious conscientious objector status are: Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, Adventists-Reformists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Charismatic Christians (ibid. n.d.a).

According to the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO), an umbrella organisation for national associations of conscientious objectors (ECBO n.d.a), objectors "from Jewish or majority faiths," or those who object for non-religious reasons, have "no alternative to compulsory military service" in Ukraine (ibid. n.d.a). Equal Rights Trust similarly states that conscientious objector status is not available for "other religions, or non-religious beliefs grounded in conscience" (Equal Rights Trust Aug. 2015, 193).

The EBCO further states that there is "no right to conscientious objection for serving conscripts, reservists and professional soldiers" (EBCO n.d.b). Equal Rights Trust similarly states that Ukrainian law "does not contain provisions which allow for conscientious objectors to refuse to undertake military service when mobilised" (Equal Rights Trust Aug. 2015, 193).

2.1 Court Cases Related to Conscientious Objection

Jehovah's Witnesses (JW), the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses, reports that a request by Vitaliy Shalaiko, a former soldier, for alternative non-military service due to his religious beliefs (Jehovah's Witness) was rejected by the military office, which then pressed criminal charges against Shalaiko for "evading military service during mobilization" (JW 8 June 2015). The same source further states that Shalaiko was found not guilty by the Novomoskovsk District Court and that he "'has the right to substitution of military duty, including military service during mobilization … because he belongs to a religious organization whose religious teachings do not allow the use of arms'" (JW 8 June 2015). The source further states that the prosecution appealed the decision, stating that the "constitutional duty to defend the country overrides the right to religious freedom" and that relevant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) "do not apply during periods of mobilization" (ibid.). The Appeal Court of the Dnipropetrovsk region upheld the previous ruling, after which the prosecution filed an appeal with the High Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases (ibid.). According to a 2015 Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) by the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), the "appellate court denied the prosecution appeal and affirmed the full acquittal of the defendant by the lower court" (OSCE 24 June 2015).

JW states that the requests of Ukraine's Jehovah's Witnesses for alternative service are "generally respected, and few Witnesses have faced prosecution" (JW 8 June 2015). However, the US Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2014 indicates that Jehovah's Witnesses has reported difficulties with their members claiming conscientious objector status in Ukraine (US 14 Oct. 2015, 6).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Note

[1] Equal Rights Trust is an international organisation that focuses on combating discrimination and advancing equality worldwide (Equal Rights Trust n.d).

References

Bloomberg Business. N.d. "Company Overview of Ukrainian Independent Information Agency." [Accessed 24 Nov. 2015]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 2 May 2014. "Ukraine Reinstates Conscription as Crisis Deepens." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

Equal Rights Trust. August 2015. In the Crosscurrents: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Ukraine. [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

_____. N.d. "Our Purpose." [Accessed 17 Nov. 2015]

European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO). N.d.a "About ECBO." [Accessed 19 Nov. 2015]

_____. N.d.b "Ukraine." [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

Foreign Policy. 18 February 2015. Alec Luhn. "The Draft Dodgers of Ukraine." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

The Guardian. 10 February 2015. Shaun Walker. "Ukraine: Draft Dodgers Face Jail as Kiev Struggles to Find New Fighters." [Accessed 18 Nov. 2015]

Institute for Religious Freedom. N.d. "General Information." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

Jehovah's Witnesses (JW). 8 June 2015. "Ukraine Courts Recognize Right to Conscientious Objection During Military Mobilization." [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE). 24 June 2015. "Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on Information Received as of 19:30 (Kyiv Time), 23 June 2015." [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

Peace and Justice. 18 October 2014. "Ukraine: Reintroduction of Conscription." [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

Ukraine. [2015]. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Kenya. "The Legislation of Ukraine on Freedom of Conscience." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

_____. 1992. The Law of Ukraine "On Alternative (Non-Military) Service". [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

UNIAN Information Agency. 2 November 2015. "Ukraine Begins Autumn Conscription Postponed Due to Elections." [Accessed 18 Nov. 2015]

United Nations (UN). September 2015. International Protection Consideration Related to Developments in Ukraine - Update III. [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

United States (US). 14 October 2015. Department of State. "Ukraine." International Religious Freedom Report for 2014. [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015]

World Beyond War. N.d.a. "Military Conscription Worldwide." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

_____. N.d.b. "Who We Are." [Accessed 16 Nov. 2015]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Institute for Religious Freedom.

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Connection e.V.; ecoi.net; Factiva; Forum 18; Freedom House; Georgetown University; Human Rights House; Human Rights in Ukraine; Human Rights Watch; Institute for War and Peace Reporting; International Crisis Group; The International Federation for Human Rights; The Jamestown Foundation; Jane's Intelligence Review; Kyiv Post; Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union; Ukraine Today; United Nations - Refworld; War Resisters' International; The Washington Post.