Conscientious objection

27/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription does not exist

Conscription has never existed in Bangladesh.

The 1952 Bangladesh Army Act does provide for the possible introduction of compulsory military service. According to section 7, the government may declare that any individual or category of individuals are on active service.

19/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription has existed ever since the foundation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976. Previously, conscription applied in both North and South Vietnam.

Conscription is enshrined in arts. 44 and 77 of the 1992 Constitution. According to art. 44: "It is the duty of the entire people to defend the socialist Vietnamese fatherland and firmly maintain national security."; according to art. 77: "Defending the fatherland is the citizens' sacred duty and noble right.

15/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription does not exist

Conscription was abolished in 1973.

There is no legislation providing for conscription, as the Military Service Act was repealed in 1973. Conscription is not enshrined in the Constitution. [3] [4]

There is no compulsory registration for military service. [3]

Some New Zealand First party politicians are in favour of re-introducing conscription but they have little backing over this opinion.

15/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription has existed ever since the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975.

The present legal basis of conscription is the 1994 Law on Military Service. [1]

The armed forces have been significantly reduced in recent years, from about 50,000 troops in the early 1980s to 29,000 by 1997. Since Laos no longer receives financial assistance from Vietnam and the former Soviet Union, maintaining the armed forces has become more difficult.

23 March 2009

Issues

Korea maintains conscription.

The right to conscientious objection is not
recognised.

Those
who refuse to answer a call up for reserve duty are
subject to multiple prosecutions and repeated fines or imprisonment.

Military recruitment
Conscription

Conscription is enshrined in art.

15/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription has existed since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Conscription is enshrined in art. 55 of the constitution, which states: "It is a sacred duty of every citizen of the People's Republic of China to defend his or her motherland and resist invasion.

Updated February 2016

Download the report as a pdf

Issues

Conscientious objection is not recognised in law or practice

Those who refuse the draft face repeated imprisonment

1 Conscription

conscription exists

10/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription does not exist

There is no legislation providing for conscription at present, as the 1952 National Service Act has been officially repealed. Conscription has existed in the past. (see: history)

There are no known plans to introduce conscription. In the 1990s the Malaysian armed forces have difficulties obtaining the requisite number of recruits, particularly officers.

10/03/1998

(Democratic People's Republic of Korea)

1 Conscription

conscription exists

Conscription is enshrined in art. 86 of the 1992 Constitution, which states: "National defense is a supreme duty and honour for citizens. Citizens must defend the fatherland and serve in the military as stipulated by law." According to art.

10/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription does not exist

According to art. 9 of the 1947 Constitution Japan is not allowed to have armed forces: "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.

10/03/1998 1 Conscription

conscription does not exist

Conscription has never existed in Brunei.

The government stated in 1989 that it had no plans to introduce compulsory military service. [2] [3]

recruitment

Only ethnic Malayans, who form 67 percent of the population, are allowed to join the armed forces.

After the communist government fell in 1992 civil war continued between different factions of the former Mujaheddin resistance. Since 1992 different parts of the country have been ruled by different armed groups and local commanders; effective central government is consequently lacking. In September 1996 the capital Kabul was seized by the Taleban, which ever since has been considered the government of Afghanistan and controls approximately 75 percent of the country.