A/HRC/23/22 Witnesses in prisons in the Republic of Korea and that, since 1950, 17,208 Witnesses had been sentenced to a combined total of 32,566 years in prison. 58. The Jehovah’s Witnesses alleged that Kyrgyzstan prosecuted and imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses for their conscientious objection to military service. It indicated that nine cases were pending before the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan and another 45 were pending before the Military Commissariat. The submission stated that the Law on the Universal Duty of Citizens of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan required those who chose alternative service to make payments to the Ministry of Defence to support the military, and maintained that the requirement violated the conscience of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The submission stated that 12 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been convicted for refusing to perform military service. Three cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses were pending before the Human Rights Committee. 59. The Defensoria del Pueblo of Paraguay stated that, while the right to conscientious objection was recognized in law and there was provision for alternative service, there remained problems in how the law was implemented. In particular, the Defensoria had recommended that one entity should administer the law, a central database should be established for claims of conscientious objection and there should be an information campaign to better inform young people of their rights under the law. 60. The organization Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg in its submission alleged that, although the Russian Federation had an alternative service law, according to nongovernmental sources only 25 per cent of applications were accepted by Draft Boards, and that inappropriate or unacceptable assignments were sometimes made that were incompatible with some applicants’ religious or personal needs. 61. The International Fellowship of Reconciliation noted that in Tajikistan, although the military recruitment legislation referred to the possibility of alternative service, no implementing legislation for performing alternative by service had been adopted. 62. Turkey continued to prosecute conscientious objectors to military service, according to the submission of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which indicated that as of November 2012 there were 21 young men facing prosecution as conscientious objectors, although it acknowledged that there are no Jehovah’s Witnesses currently imprisoned. It reported that it had one case pending before the European Court of Human Rights. 63. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claimed that Turkmenistan did not recognize the right of conscientious objection to military service, and that there was no law allowing for alternative civilian service. It indicated that there were currently eight Jehovah’s Witnesses serving 12–24-month prison sentences, and alleged that they had been subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment. It further indicated that four of the eight had been convicted for a second time, and that Turkmenistan maintained a policy of repeated prosecution and imprisonment of young Witnesses for their conscientious objection to military service. It was reported that there were presently 10 individual communications pending before the Human Rights Committee concerning conscientious objection to military service. Forum 18 News Service in its reply also indicated that Turkmenistan imprisoned conscientious objectors to military service and the latter were subject to repeated prosecutions and imprisonment. It said that there were eight Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison, and added that some other individuals who had been prosecuted, had been given fines or suspended prison sentences. It further alleged that the police took retaliatory action against family members of a jailed Jehovah’s Witness after he and nine others submitted a complaint to the Human Rights Committee. 15