Czech Republic

24/07/1998

1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription is enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.

Its present legal basis is the 1993 Law on Military Service.

The Czech Republic became independent on 1 January 1993 and the Czech armed forces were formally created on that date, comprising two thirds of former Czechoslovakia's armed forces. The armed forces have been reduced from 105,000 troops in 1993 to 61,000 in 1997 and the proportion of conscripts in the armed forces has also been reduced. It is planned to further reduce the proportion of conscripts and even turning into a completely professional army has been debated. The abolition of conscription is, however, not foreseen in the near future as this would be too expensive. [2] [4]

military service

All men between the ages of 19 and 28 are liable for military service. [6]

Women may be liable for military service in time of emergency or wartime. [10]

The length of military service is 12 months. The length of service was reduced from 18 months in 1993 - in line with the reduction of the armed forces. In recent years the Ministry of Defence has made several proposals to further reduce the length of service, but so far these have been rejected. [12]

Military service can be shortened to 5 months for social, financial or domestic reasons. This is the so-called system of compensatory service and is, for instance, allowed to married men with children and farmers' sons who are needed to work on the farm. Conscripts who take part in preparatory military training while they are students are allowed to reduce their military service to 6 months. [2]

Reservist obligations pertain up to the age of 30. Reserve training lasts for 12 weeks - for officers 16 weeks. The minimum period allowed to elapse between training sessions is 4 or 5 years, the maximum duration of reservist training is 12 days per year - 19 days for officers. [7] [10]

postponement and exemption

Postponement is possible for students up to the age of 25, and up to the age of 30 for university students. [2] [10]

Exemption is possible for domestic and medical reasons. [2]

There are a considerable number of exemptions for medical reasons. In 1994, for instance, 15,000 young men were granted an exemption for this reason, and many conscripts try to avoid military service on medical grounds. [8]

recruitment

Call-up for medical examination takes place in the year conscripts reach the age of 18 and they are recruited as soon as possible thereafter. There are four call-ups a year: in January, April, July and October. [2]

2 Conscientious objection

legal right

The right to conscientious objection is enshrined art. 15(3) of the 1992 Constitution, which states: "No individual may be forced to perform military duties if this is contrary to his or her conscience or religious faith or conviction".

Its present legal basis is laid down in the 1992 Law on Civilian Service (18/1992), amended by Law 135/1993. According to the law both religious and moral grounds for objection are acceptable. [4]

right for whom

Conscripts may submit a written refusal to perform military service only within 30 days of call-up for service. Applications for CO status submitted thereafter are not considered. (1992 Law, art. 2 - as amended in 1994) [1]

Reservists may apply for CO status, but only until January 31 of the calendar year. [10]

Professional soldiers may not apply for CO status. [10]

In 1995 there were two known cases of COs getting suspended prison sentences under art. 269 of the Criminal Code for refusing to start their military service. They were not allowed to perform substitute service as they had not submitted their applications in time. They were imprisoned following a second conviction under the same law when they failed to respond to a second call-up. In September 1995 both were released following a Constitutional Court ruling that it was unconstitutional to convict anyone more than once under art. 269 for not performing military service. [1]

procedure and practice

Written applications must be sent to the regional military commission of the Ministry of Defence. An individual examination of the applicant does not take place. [4]

Some groups, mainly former left-wing parties, would like the procedure to include an approval by a board. And Prime Minister Havel stated that it is "immoral for someone to need only write three lines and then does not have to perform military service". In 1995 the Ministry of Defence proposed to set up an examination board (and doubling substitute service to twice the length of military service), but this was rejected by parliament. [3] [8]

substitute service

Substitute service lasts for 18 months, one and a half the length of military service. Substitute service is run by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in cooperation with local governments. It can be performed in the public services: hospitals, environmental protection, forestry, etc. Actually, COs are often used for tasks that were previously carried out by local government, like cleaning and sweeping the streets. Substitute service can also be performed in various humanitarian projects, such as Protestant social service and the YMCA. [3] [4]

COs are assigned to a placement by local government and cannot choose themselves where they want to perform substitute service. [4]

The shortage of potential substitute service placements is a major problem. As a result people may have to wait for up to three years before embarking on their service. [8] [4]

3 Draft evasion and desertion

penalties

Refusal to respond to call-up is punishable by six months to three years' imprisonment. (Criminal Code, art. 269) [1]

practice

No information available.

5 History

Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

Until 1990 the right to conscientious objection was not legally recognized in Czechoslovakia. Refusal to perform military service was punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. In practice there appeared to be an informal understanding that conscripts belonging to certain religious groups should be given non-military tasks during their military service. And conscripts who had worked for three years in the construction of the underground or for five years in the coal-mines were considered to have fulfilled their military obligations. The latter was apparently often chosen by Jehovah's Witnesses as a means of avoiding imprisonment. [5]

Nevertheless COs were sentenced to several years' imprisonment. In 1989 there were said to be 50 Jehovah's Witnesses in jail for refusing to perform military service. [3] [9]

Shortly after the 1989 Velvet Revolution the new government included the right to conscientious objection in the Constitution and passed a law on substitute service. Initially no time limit was set for submitting applications for CO status. The time limit eventually introduced in 1994 was prompted by the many CO applications made in the early 90s. In 1991, for instance, there were 38,000 applications, most of which were granted. The Ministry of Defence and various politicians maintained that CO legislation had been abused and feared a shortage of recruits in the armed forces. [3] [4]

All this inevitably had a bearing on the stricter laws that were later passed in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

6 Annual statistics

The armed forces comprise 61,700 troops, which is 0.60 percent of the population. Every year about 84,000 young men reach conscription age. There are 37,000 conscripts in the armed forces. [11]

It is thought that each year about 6 to 8 percent of conscripts apply for CO status. [4]

The precise number of CO applications (and the percentage of granted applications) are not known as the Ministry of Defence doesn't provide such statistics. [6]

Sources

[1] Amnesty International 1997. Out of the margins, the right to conscientious objections to military service in Europe. AI, London. [2] ECCO 1996. Compulsory military service in Central and Eastern Europe, a general survey. European Council of Conscript Organisations (ECCO), Utrecht. [3] Dus, Jan A. 1995. 'Alternative Civilian Service in the Czech Republic', in: CEC/EAK: Conscientious Objection to Military Service - a Human Right, documentation of the Conference of European Churches on "Conscientious Objection and Peace Service", 9-14 October 1995 in Minsk. Conference on European Churches (CEC) / EAK, Geneva/Bremen. [4] Tannert, C., R. Bachmann 1997. Military service and conscientious objection in Central and Eastern Europe in view of the extension of the European Union towards the East. Brussels. [5] Amnesty International 1988. Conscientious objection to military service. AI, London. [6] Tannert, C. 1998. Das Mensenrecht Kriegsdienstverweigerung und das Europäische Parlament. Fraktion der Sozialdemokratischen Parteien Europas, Brussels. [7] UNHCR Centre for Documentation and Research, 25 March 1994. [8] 'Army doubts motives of conscientious objectors', Prague Post, 28 March 1995. [9] Fladung, A., P. Mucke 1990. Kriegdienstverweigerung in Europa. Katholische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kriegsdienstverweigerung, Köln. [10] Information on legal regulation of compulsory military service in the Czech Republic, provided by ECCO 1996. [11] Institute for Strategic Studies 1997. Military Balance 1997/98. ISS, London. [12] OMRI Daily Digest, 30 August 1996, Open Media Research Institute, Prague.

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