A/HRC/41/23 that there had been no registered cases in recent years of refusal to perform military service due to religious identity or legal cases in connection with evading military service for religious reasons, two Jehovah’s Witnesses received criminal convictions for their conscientious objection to military service in 2018. 22 2. Availability of information on the right to conscientious objection and transparency of procedures to exercise it 17. In its resolution 24/17, the Human Rights Council affirmed the importance of the availability of information on the right to conscientious objection to military service, and the means of acquiring conscientious objector status, to all persons affected by military service. It also welcomed initiatives to make such information widely available, and encouraged States, as applicable, to provide information to conscripts and persons voluntarily in the military service about the right to conscientious objection. The right to have access to information held by public bodies is an integral part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression, guaranteed by both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and encompassing the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers. The right to freedom of expression and of access to information requires States not to prohibit the dissemination of information on the right to conscientious objection to military service.23 18. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has commented on the importance of transparent procedures for conscientious objectors (A/HRC/19/60/Add.1, para 64 (g)). The Human Rights Committee has also stressed the requirement of transparency in both the process and the criteria for granting conscientious objector status, recommending that States adopt specific regulations on conscientious objection so as to ensure that the right can be effectively exercised, and guarantee that information about its exercise is properly disseminated to the entire population (CCPR/C/PRY/CO/2, para. 18). They should clarify the grounds under which applications for an alternative to military service are accepted or rejected, and take relevant measures to ensure that the right to conscientious objection is upheld (CCPR/C/EST/CO/3, para. 14). 19. At the regional level, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe set the principle in its resolution 337 (1967) that persons liable for military service should be informed, when notified of their call-up or prospective call-up, of the rights that they are entitled to exercise. 20. National practice shows the variety of approaches used. In Austria, relevant information is sent out with recruitment papers, and the form may be downloaded from the website of the civilian services agency. In Hungary, when conscription was still in force (until 2015), recruitment papers listed the possibility of civilian service without the requirement of a statement of conscientious objection. In the Russian Federation, in order to exercise the right to perform alternative civilian rather than military service, a citizen who is eligible for alternative civilian service on one of three recognized grounds must appear in person at the municipal training office of the military commissariat where the citizen is registered in order to inform authorities of the relevant reason.24 While persons serving in any of the three branches of the military in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are able to apply for a discharge as a conscientious objector, information about how to apply for conscientious objection is not actually in the public domain. 25 This gives ground to the claim by a non-profit research and campaigning organization that many people are unaware of their right to discharge if they develop a conscientious objection. 26 22 23 24 25 26 6 Ibid. See also www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2415. For example, article 318 of the Penal Code of Turkey criminalizes “alienating the public from military service”; in 2013, this was amended to specifically address statements or conduct that “encourage and inspire people to desert or not to participate in military service”. Submission by the Russian Federation. Submission by the Quaker. See www.parliament.uk/documents/joint-committees/human-rights/ Briefing_from_Forces_Watch_Conscientious_objection.pdf.