Turkey’s judicial reform falls short on conscientious objection: EU comissionner

BRUSSELS – Anatolia News Agency

EU comissionner for enlargment Stefan Füle released a statement April 12.

Turkey’s enactment of the fourth judicial package is a very positive development, but falls short on conscientious objection reform, European Commissioner Stefan Füle has said in a statement April 12. “While I understand the focus of the Fourth Judicial Reform package is on compliance with European Court of Human Rights rulings, I note with regret the omission of conscientious objection in the package”, Füle’s statement read. 
 
Turkish Parliament adopted April 11 a long-awaited reform package aligning Turkish legislation with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. EU’s top court had previously ruled against Turkey for not recognizing the right of conscientious objection for refusing military service. 
 
The initial version of the new judicial package foresaw the adoption of other ways of serving the state for citizens instead of having to do compulsory military service. However, after the parliamentary discussions the removal of a provision in the Turkish Penal Code according to which conscientious objectors can be convicted and sentenced to prison for “alienating people from military service” was finally not included in the reform. 
 
“My understanding is that the outstanding points will be included in the forthcoming Human Rights Action Plan, which I hope will be finalized very soon,” Füle said.