A/HRC/23/22 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 3 June 2013 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-third session Agenda items 2 and 3 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Analytical report on conscientious objection to military service Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights* Summary This report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 20/2, which requested the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare, in consultations with all States, relevant United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, a quadrennial analytical report on conscientious objection to military service, in particular on new developments, best practices and remaining challenges. The last analytical report on conscientious objection to military service was submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in 2006 (E/CN.4/2006/51). The present report sets out the international legal framework, with particular attention to new developments, for conscientious objection to military services and includes information on the recognition of conscientious objection in international human rights law, the issue of its applicability to conscripts and those serving voluntarily, selective conscientious objection, the prohibition of repeated trial and punishment of unrecognized conscientious objectors, decision-making processes and the right to information, alternative service, non-discrimination between conscientious objectors, and the right to protection in international refugee law for conscientious objectors under certain circumstances. The report also contains information on best practices and remaining challenges in law and practice at the national level that relate to the above issues. * GE.13-14322 This document is submitted late so as to include the most up-to-date information.