Romania: Treatment of soldiers in the army; penalty for leaving Romania illegally in order to avoid military service
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 22 September 2003 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ROM41894.FE |
| Reference | 1 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Romania: Treatment of soldiers in the army; penalty for leaving Romania illegally in order to avoid military service, 22 September 2003, ROM41894.FE, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/403dd2168.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No information on whether there is widespread ill-treatment of soldiers in the Romanian army could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.
Furthermore, no information on the penalties incurred for leaving Romania illegally in order to avoid military service could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints for this Response.
However, article 354 of the 1969 Criminal Code of Romania, as published in the collection of legal texts (Corpus Juris) on the Trier Academy of European Law (ERA) Website, provides for a sentence of imprisonment of one to five years for failure to respond to a call-up for military service (Romania 1969).
A report on the right to conscientious objection to military service, presented by War Resisters' International (WRI) in July 2003 at a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), cited an Amnesty International report published on 6 October 2000, that indicated:
As article 354 of the Romanian Penal Code only applies to failure to report for military service, it has been argued in court that it does not apply when total objectors do not respond to call up for substitute service (11 July 2003).
However, according to this report, tribunals have in the past overruled decisions based on this argument, particularly in the case of Robert Fazakas in 1999 (WRI 11 July 2003)
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 to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Romania. 1969. The Criminal Code.
War Resisters' International (WRI). 11 July 2003. "The Right to Constientious Objection to Military Service in Selected Member States of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe."
Additional Sources Consulted
Dialog
IRB Databases
Internet sites, including:
Amnesty International
Country Reports 2002
European Bureau for Conscientious Objection (EBCO)
European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI.Net)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
United Kingdom Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Country Assessment: Romania
World News Connection (WNC)
