USSR/Ukraine: 1) Alternative Service for Soviet conscripts; 2) Treatment of Catholics in the Ukraine
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 October 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUN2273 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, USSR/Ukraine: 1) Alternative Service for Soviet conscripts; 2) Treatment of Catholics in the Ukraine, 1 October 1989, SUN2273, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abd73.html [accessed 1 June 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. |
1) According to a report on conscientious objection published by Amnesty International in 1988, there is no recognition of conscientious objection in the USSR nor is their a provision for non-military alternative service. [Amnesty International, Conscientious Objection to Military Service, (London: Amnesty International International Secretariat, 1988), p. 22.] In practice, however, it appears that some religious objectors such as Baptists, Pentecostalists, and Seventh Day Adventists who express their willingness to perform unarmed military service may be allowed to do so and it appears that some have served in military construction units. [Ibid.] The attached article from Radio Liberty's Report on the USSR, dated 29 September 1989, provides further details on conscription in the USSR as it applies to post-secondary students, as well as information on the recent program of deferments offered to students which in some cases amount to exemption from conscription.
2) An article which appeared in The Globe and Mail on 18 September 1989 highlights the fact that despite a trend towards liberalization in the Soviet Union, the Uniate, or Ukrainian Roman Catholic Church, remains banned. [Jeff Sallot, "Outlawed Ukrainian Catholics emerge from hiding", The Globe and Mail, 18 September 1989. p. Al.] For information on the current and past treatment of adherents to the Uniate faith, please consult the attached documentation.
ATTACHMENTS
Amnesty International, Conscientious Objection to Military Service. London: Amnesty International International Secretariat, 1988. 22-23, 15(annex).
Foye, Stephen. "Students and the Soviet Military", Radio Liberty Report on the USSR, 29 September 1989, 7-10.
Shallot, Jeff. "Outlawed Ukrainian Catholics emerge from hiding", The Globe and Mail, 18 September 1989, Al.
Hluchowecky, Andrij. "Church ban in Ukraine", The Globe and Mail, 26 July 1989, A7.
"Ukrainians hold forest mass to mark Christian millennium", The Globe and Mail, 16 June 1988, A14.
"Ukrainian activist is jailed 7 years", The Globe and Mail, 4 September 1985, N9.
Beeching, Mark. "Kharchev Discusses Draft Law on Religious Freedom", Radio Liberty Report on the USSR, 4 August 1989, 3.
Pyle, Emily. "Calls for the Legalization of Ukrainian Catholic Church", Radio Liberty Report on the USSR, 21 July 1989, 24-27.
Ashworth, George, ed. World Minorities Volume One, Middlesex, U.K.: Quartermaine House Ltd, 1977, 148-151.
Bourdeaux, Michael, "The Church in the USSR Prospects under the New Leadership", in Allan Wynn, ed. Fifth International Sakharov Hearing. London: Andre Deutsch, 1986. 56-57, 65-68.
