The Deputies

1. noted that there are no arrest warrants issued against the applicants in the Ülke group of cases for any crimes related to failure to carry out military service;

2. noted, however, with concern that the applicant in the case of Erçep is still under the obligation to pay an administrative fine draft evading and the applicant in the case of Feti Demirtaş was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for disobedience to a military order, although his conviction is not final yet;

3. urged the Turkish authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure that the consequences of the violations found by the Court in these cases are completely erased for the applicants;

4. urged the Turkish authorities to take the necessary legislative measures with a view to preventing the repetitive prosecution and conviction of conscientious objectors and to ensuring that an effective and accessible procedure is made available to them in order to establish whether they are entitled to conscientious objector status;

5. invited the Turkish authorities to provide information to the Committee of Ministers on the measures taken or envisaged in order to ensure that conscientious objectors are not tried before military courts in the light of the findings of the European Court in the cases of Erçep, Savda and Feti Demirtaş.

Two Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors, Anania Grigoryan and Artsrun Khachatryan, have been imprisoned for 24 and 30 months respectively. This brings the number of people currently imprisoned for their conscientious objection in Armenia to 31.

Joonas Norrena, a 20 year-old conscientious objector from Imatra, Finland, has been sentenced to 179 days of home detention for "refusal of conscription" on 26 November 2012 by Kymenlaakso District Court. He had refused to do military service in July 2012 in Vekaranjärvi garrison in Southeastern Finland.

Kerem Koç, Protestant pastor living in Antalya, declared his conscientious objection to military service on 12 November 2012. In his letter to the Turkish military authorities he stated: “I cannot support an institution in which militarist world views and politics are sovereign, and where hatred leads brother to kill brother over race, religion, or language. For this reason, I will not be part of any armed force. Human beings are created in God's image, and are more important than any geopolitical boundaries or notions of ethnic territory. I believe people should live together in peace.“

After having read, researched, discussed, and prayed about compulsory military service for many years, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot participate in military service with a clear conscience and with freedom of will.