Greece

18/04/1997

1 Conscription

conscription exists

Art. 4, para. 6 of the 1975 Constitution (amended in 1985/86) states: "Every Greek capable of bearing arms is obliged to contribute to the defence of the Fatherland as provided by law". Art. 13, para. 4 states that "no individual shall be exempt from discharging his obligation to the State or may refuse to comply with the law because of his religious beliefs". [6] [13]

Law 731/77, amended in 1988 (Law 1763/88), regulates military service. [2] [13]

In a period of general mobilisation or of war (Law 1763/88, art. 8, par. 7) the Minister of National Defence has unlimited right of decision on matters pertaining to conscription. Since 20 July 1976 Greece has been in a continuous state of general mobilisation, owing to the Cyprus conflict and the tension with neighbouring country Turkey.

military service

All men between 18 and 50 are liable for military service. [4] [1] [13]

Prisoners (and permanent residents of foreign countries) are excluded. [13]

The length of military service is 19 months in the army, 21 months in the air forces, 23 months in the navy. [2] [5] [13]

A shorter 12-month period is allowed if the conscript is

* the father of two children;

* the son of one parent;

* the first son of a family of more than 4 children.

A shorter 6-month period is allowed if the conscript is

* the father of three or four children;

* the first or second son of a family with more than 6 children. [2] [13]

According to art. 27 of Law 1763/88 provisions on reserve service are invariably made by ministerial decisions. Usually reservists are called for a one to seven days training, two to five times until they reach the age of 40.

postponement and exemption

Postponement is permitted for university students up to the age of 27 and for post-graduate students up to the age of 30. [5] [13]

Exemptions or shorter service time may be given for physical and mental reasons. [1] [13]

According to art. 6, para. 1c of Law 1763/88, conscripts who are clergy, monks or novice monks of a 'known' religion are exempt from military service, if they so wish. [8] [10]

But the Ministry of Defence does not recognise Jehovah's Witnesses faith as a 'known' religion, even though the Highest Administration Court (Council of State) has done so in many of its judgements. This means that Jehovah's Witnesses ministers are not exempt from military service. They have to lodge an appeal with the Council of State in order to be exempted. Four Jehovah's Witnesses ministers have been imprisoned for draft evasion. [7] [8] [9] [13]

There are well known cases of parliamentarians, famous actors, singers, footballers and others using their social connections in order to be exempted for military service. [13]

Eighteen percent of the conscripts do not serve at all; 10 percent are medically unfit (5 percent for physical reasons, 5 percent for psychological reasons - true or false) and 8 percent because of reasons of immigrant status or refusal to enlist. [3]

recruitment

Once they are 18, all men are summoned to the local recruitment office and required to fill in a so-called "selection note". This note contains all the personal data of their identity cards, including their religion, plus a statement as to which corps they want to join. Then they get a personal call-up notification. [13]

In wartime a general call-up is announced in the news media. Those who have completed military service and received special training are called up first. Local recruitment offices decide where they should go.

2 Conscientious objection

legal right

On 5 June 1997 a law on conscientious objection providing for substitute service outside the armed forces was adopted, which came into force on 1 January 1998.

Law 731 from 1977 allows those who object to military service on religious grounds to perform an unarmed service for twice as long as normal military service. In 1988 the law was amended (Law 1763/88) to allow unarmed service for objectors on non-religious and moral grounds. [1] [6]

The Minister of National Defence has decreed that unarmed military service may be suspended during a period of general mobilisation or in wartime.

right for whom

Until January 1998 there is no legal provision for conscientious objection. Professional soldiers who become conscientious objectors have no legal way out.

procedure and practice

There is no procedure for achieving CO status. Recruits who refuse to perform military service may perform unarmed service. Many who regard themselves as COs do not accept unarmed service, because it is still a military service. There are no known cases of people who have performed the unarmed service after refusing to perform (armed) military service.

Nearly all Greeks who have refused to perform military service (and unarmed military service) are refused passports and thus are not free to leave the country. Many are hindered in getting a job in the public sector. [6]

Until 1995 refusal to perform military service was considered a felony, but under the August 1995 alteration to the Military Penal Code the offence of refusal to perform military service is now considered a misdemeanour. This should mean that the difficulties faced by COs over getting a job in the public sector should end. But a relevant case does not exist yet. [13]

substitute service

There is yet no substitute service outside the armed forces. There is only an unarmed military service lasting twice as long as normal military service. In 1997 this could be for 38 to 46 months. [13]

Not one regarding himself as a CO has so far used this provision of unarmed service until today. [7] [13] [3]

Those who refuse to perform unarmed military service get sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment. See also draft evasion and desertion.

3 Draft evasion and desertion

penalties

Draft evaders, those who do not respond to call-up, and COs who write to recruitment offices announcing they are COs, are considered insubordinate. The penalty for insubordination in peacetime is 6 months' imprisonment. But in the state of 'general mobilisation' (which was declared on 20 July 1976) objectors can be jailed for up to 10 years (art. 32 Military Penal Code). [13] [3]

Conscripts who respond the call-up and enlist in the armed forces but refuse to don uniform or bear arms, are ordered to perform unarmed military service. If they refuse to do so they are tried before a military court for 'disobedience'. Because such refusal is no longer considered a felony the conscript is not imprisoned, but must remain in the military camp until trial. Art. 53 of the Military Penal Code prescribes the penalties for disobeying orders. The penalty is imprisonment for double the duration of military service, that is for 4 years. [7] [13] [3].

According to art. 33 of the new Military Penal Code desertion is punishable

- in peacetime by one year's imprisonment;

- in wartime by death or life imprisonment;

- in periods of general mobilisation by a minimum of two years' imprisonment.

According to art. 36, desertion and fleeing abroad is punishable

- in peacetime by one to 10 years' imprisonment;

- in wartime by death or life imprisonment.

Deserters are treated very harsh. They receive heavy sentences and then are still required to serve in the armed forces. Most of them have fled abroad and are unable to return. [13]

practice

Many Greeks who do not want to serve leave their home country in order to avoid military service. They live in Europe, the USA, Canada or Australia. Officials estimate their number as between 8,000 and 35,000, but CO support groups estimate the number of draft evaders as between 40,000 and 70,000. [6] [13] [3]

Sometimes they are able - thanks to ministerial decrees - to return home for short periods (e.g. for Christmas or general elections). [13]

In practice there is little difference between the draft evaders and those who announce they are COs. Neither group responds to call-up but usually goes into hiding, either abroad or in their own country.

The COs who get sent to prison are the Jehovah's Witnesses, because they respond to call-up but then refuse to serve. They are usually imprisoned for 4 years. Some get shorter sentences, mainly for family reasons. Initially they are in a military prison, but later they are transferred to a civilian or rural prison where they can work. Every day of labour reduces their sentence by one day. When 2/5 of a sentence has been served, the rest is conditionally suspended, parole usually lasting for three years. Those on parole must report to the local police every 15 days and may not leave the country. Many cases of ill-treatment of COs in prison have been reported. [13]

Relatively few non-religious COs are imprisoned as most decline to enlist and, when a warrant is issued, go into hiding. The Ministry of National Defence makes little effort to find them and evidently are happy to leave them more or less underground. Thousands of draft evaders have changed address and live in hiding in Greece. [3] [13]

Among those imprisoned non-religious COs were Maragakis and Makris, who were released after a lengthy hunger-strike. Two others, Maziotis and Nathanael, were sentenced to 4 years, but eventually had their sentences suspended and were immediately recalled to the army. Maziotis did not respond and was arrested for desertion. After a seven-week hunger-strike he was granted exemption from the army for two years on account of poor health and released a few months later.

In September 1995 non-religious CO Nikos Karanikas was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment, but after appeal his sentence was reduced to one year and suspended. He was immediately released and so far has not been called up again. This outcome has not affected the sentences passed on other objectors who were tried later. [13] [12]

5 History

Before 1977 there were no provisions for CO.

In 1986 the refusal of Michael Maragakis to perform military service on non-religious pacifist grounds was a turning point. He was prepared to perform any civilian service, but not unarmed service in the military. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. In May 1988 he, together with Thanassis Makris, conducted a 60-day hunger-strike, which led to government promises to draft a civilian service law. Not until 1988 was the conscription law amended in such way that also non-religious reasons could be accepted as grounds for assignment to unarmed military service. [1] [7]

The government withdrew a draft law in 1988 after the Central Legal Preparatory Committee of the Parliament had advised that civilian substitute service was unconstitutional. In October 1991, following a request from the Minister of Defence, the Legal State Council also advised that it was unconstitutional. The government then publicly stated that it was unable to introduce civilian substitute service. Neither of these advises were binding; in Greece the only body allowed to pass definitive judgement on the constitutionality of laws is parliament. [6] [7]

Nine years after Maragakis hunger-strike the Greek parliament adopted the first law on conscientious objection on 5 June 1997.

6 Annual statistics

The armed forces comprise 162,300 troops, which is 1.54 percent of the population. Each year about 76,800 young men reach conscription age. There are 119,200 conscripts in the armed forces. [14]

Over the years more than 150,000 conscripts have been exempted, mainly for psychological reasons. 20,000 Orthodox Church clergy have been exempted, so have eight Jehovah's Witnesses ministers after a Council of State ruling. [13]

Approximately 100 people object on non-religious pacifist grounds. From 1940 on, 3,200 Jehovah's Witnesses have been detained for objecting to military service on religious grounds. At the beginning of 1997 250 COs were in prison. [11]

Sources

[1] Moskos, C.C., J.W. Chambers II 1993. The New Conscientious Objection, from sacred to secular resistance. Oxford University Press, New York/Oxford. [2] Schmid, G. 1994. Wehr- und Zivildienst in Europäischen Ländern, Informationen, Analysen, Unterrichtbausteine. Wochenschau Verlag, Schwalbach. [3] Greek Association of CO's, 1995. The legal dimension for COs in Greece. Athens. [4] War Resisters International, 1990. Country reports. WRI, London. [5] Amnesty International - Greek Section, 1994. Information from Questionnaire. [6] Netherlands Helsinki Committee, 1995. Conscientious objection in Greece and Turkey. Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Utrecht. [7] Amnesty International, 1993. 5,000 years of prison: conscientious objectors in Greece. AI, London. [8] Amnesty International, 1992. Greece, Religious discrimination - minister imprisoned. AI, London. [9] European Parliament - Commission of Petitions, 1992. Petition no. 161/92 presented by Mrs Koula Georgiadis. EP, Brussels (PE 201.623). [10] Vidal d'Almeida Ribeiro, A. 1991. Implementation of the declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. UN Human Rights Commission, Geneva (E/CN.4/1991/56). [11] Reppas, T., 1997. Conscientious Objectors Imprisoned in Greece, January 13, 1997. Athens. [12] Amnesty International, Greek Section, 1997. Information on Nikos Karanikas. [13] Reppas, T. 1997. Additional information and corrections to the first draft report. Athens. [14] Institute for Strategic Studies 1997. Military Balance 1997/98. ISS, London, UK.

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