The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and the Association of Greek Conscientious Objection submitted yesterday (25/03/2021) a joint contribution to the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) documentation on Greece in the 3rd UPR cycle: contributions and participation of "other stakeholders" (including civil society and national human rights institutions).
“Greece continues to violate the human right to conscientious objection to military service. There was another joint submission by EBCO and AGCO in 2015 in the context of the 2nd UPR cycle. Unfortunately Greece rejected[1] all the recommendations[2] concerning conscientious objectors then. We now call again on the Greek government to finally comply with the European and international standards and recommendations”, EBCO’s President Alexia Tsouni stated today.
EBCO and AGCO call for:
NOTES:
You can find the UPR Joint Submission on Greece by EBCO and AGCO at https://www.ebco-beoc.org/node/492
More information in EBCO’s Annual Report on Conscientious Objection to Military Service in Europe 2020 at https://ebco-beoc.org/node/491
For more information and interviews please contact Alexia Tsouni, EBCO President (+30 6974461210; tsounialexia@gmail.com)
[1] UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Greece, Addendum, Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments and replies presented by the State under review, (A/HRC/33/7/Add.1), 2 September 2016, p. 3.
[2] UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Greece, (A/HRC/33/7), 8 July 2016, recommendation 136.15 (Uruguay), 136.16 (Slovenia).
[3] Approaches and challenges with regard to application procedures for obtaining the status of conscientious objector to military service in accordance with human rights standards - Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/41/23