In this Youtube video uploaded by the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre), Rachel Brett, QUNO's representative for Human Rights and Refugees, compares the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee with the European Court for Human Rights regarding the right to conscientious objection.
Exploring the complex interlinkages between climate change, resource scarcity, violent conflict and cooperation.
This statement welcomes the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and discusses Quaker perspectives on the issue.
Geneva's newsletter from May to August 2012. Featured stories:
Geneva Reporter May-August 2012.pdf 132.68 KB This publication arose out of QUNO’s wider work on the question of women in prison and children of prisoner’s. The study looks at children of incarcerated parents as individuals unto themselves, rather than as extensions of their parents, and therefore adopts a child’s rights approach. The Revised Draft Framework is a comprehensive exploration of the relevant child rights issues throughout the criminal justice process, from a parent’s arrest or detention to release following imprisonment. Examples of potential good practice, as well as relevant international/regional standards are included.
See also the following oral statement to the 14th session of the Human Rights Council.
One of the first QUNO publications to deal exclusively with the question of children whose parents are sentenced to death, paving the way for other documents in the same series. This paper raises awareness of some of the issues facing such children. It considers and elaborates on these issues in as much detail as the literature available at the time permitted, and highlights directions for future study.
See also:
QUNO Geneva's newsletter for November 2011 to February 2012. Featured stories:
- Preventing Armed Violence: the Geneva Declaration Review Conference
- The Unknown Impacts of Seeds Policies: Exploring the Effects of UPOV
- News from QUNO New York
- Watching the Climate Change Negotiations
- News in Brief, Jardins Ouverts, and Publications
Geneva Reporter, Nov 2011 - Feb 2012 417.48 KB In this written statement by Friends World Committee for Consultation, Quakers stress that conscientious objection to military service is protected under several international human rights mechanisms, and call on states to “fully implement the right of conscientious objection to military service in law and practice.”
QUNO was involved in the preparation of this Guide, which was published by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Guide brings together international standards, jurisprudence and national practice relating to conscientious objection. It is aimed at State officials responsible for drafting and implementing laws, individuals who may be unsure of their rights should they be called to perform military service, and civil society actors seeking to defend the rights of conscientious objectors. It includes a section on the protection of conscientious objectors under international refugee law.
See also A Conscientious Objector's Guide to the International Human Rights System.
Review of the activities of QUNO in 2011.
QUNO Review 2011: English 882.4 KB Rapport d’activités du Bureau Quaker auprès des Nations Unies 2011: Français 2.78 MB Revisión de Programas de QUNO-Oficina Cuáquera ante las Naciones Unidas 2011: Español 931.94 KB Conscientious objection to military service is now clearly protected as a human right under international law, even if the term "conscientious objection" does not appear in the international human rights treaties per se.
This paper presents the analysis and findings of the UN Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights as well as procedures of the Human Rights Council (Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief) that show how conscientious objection to military service is protected under international human rights law, particularly under the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
This document lays out the ways in which conscientious objection has been recognized and is protected under human rights treaties and mechanisms. In this way, it responds to those who claim that, as conscientious objection to military service is not explicitly recognized by international human rights treaties, it is not protected by them.
ENGLISH_International Standards on Conscientious Objection to Military Service.pdf 275.26 KB ESPAÑOL_International Standards on Conscientious Objection to Military Service.pdf 294.6 KB FRANÇAIS_International Standards on Conscientious Objection to Military Service.pdf 319.4 KB DEUTSCH_International Standards on Conscientious Objection to Military Service.pdf 203.23 KB Pусский__International Standards on Conscientious Objection to Military Service.pdf 335.84 KB QUNO Geneva Newsletter for July 2011 to October 2011. Featured stories:
Geneva Reporter, July 2011 - Oct 2011 499.72 KB QUNO Geneva newsletter for February 2011 to June 2011. Featured stories
Geneva Reporter, Feb 2011 - June 2011 366.57 KB This statement, delivered at the 16th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, concerns certain military recruitment processes in Colombia, which raise questions about the guarantee of an individual’s right to conscientious objection - a right recognized under the Constitution of Colombia
QUNO Geneva's newsletter for November 2010 to January 2011. Featured stories:
Geneva Reporter, Nov 2010 - Jan 2011 833.77 KB QUNO Geneva's newsletter for July to October 2010. Featured stories:
GR201010.pdf 336.01 KB These are written comments submitted by Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers) jointly with Amnesty International, Conscience and Peace Tax International, International Commission of Jurists and War Resisters’ International. They were submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Vahan Bayatyan (The Applicant) vs. ARMENIA (The Respondent Government). The submission argues that conscientious objection to military service is protected under the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Art. 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).
QUNO Geneva's newsletter for February to June 2010. Featured stories:
In this written statement, Quakers highlight several cases before international human rights mechanisms where conscientious objection to military service is at issue, offering comments and recommendations.
