A/HRC/17/39 proceedings and redress. Troop-contributing States should take every measure to investigate effectively comprehensively complaints against members of their national contingents. F. Right to conscientious objection and freedom of religion and belief 39. Conscientious objection to military service is recognized by the United Nations, as reflected in statements made by the Human Rights Committee and the Commission on Human Rights. It derives from the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and applies to both conscripts and volunteers. 40. The Human Rights Committee has recognized the right of conscientious objection to military service as part of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion enshrined in article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In its general comment No. 22,37 the Committee stated that no discrimination was permitted among conscientious objectors on the basis of the nature of their particular beliefs. Moreover, it has also addressed the issue in many of its concluding observations on State reports and in its cases, most significantly in the case of Yeo-Bum Yoon and Myung-Jin Choi v Republic of Korea and thereafter in 11 communications from conscientious objectors of different backgrounds in the same country.38 41. In its resolution 1995/83, the Commission on Human Rights stated that persons performing military service should not be excluded from the right to have conscientious objections to military service. It also welcomed the fact that some States accept claims of conscientious objection as valid without inquiry, and called for independent and impartial decision-making bodies where this was not the case.39 The Human Rights Committee expressed concern about determinations by military judicial officers in individual cases of conscientious objection, and encouraged placing the assessment of applications for conscientious objector status under the control of civilian authorities.40 42. Furthermore, in its resolution 1998/77, the Commission on Human Rights stated that there was a right to object military service on conscientious reasons, as that objection was a legitimate expression of the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and that States should refrain from punishing or discriminating against conscientious objectors. 43. Regionally, there is also some support for respecting conscientious objection to compulsory military service.41 44. Discrimination and violence in the name of religion or belief is at the heart of many conflicts based on religious issues, often intertwined with ethnic, national, political or historical backgrounds. In its resolution 4/10, the Human Rights Council recognized that the disregard for and infringement of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular 37 38 39 40 41 CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, para. 11. The Committee identified conscientious objection to military service as a protected form of manifestation of religious belief under article 18(1) of the Covenant, and held that the Republic of Korea had violated article 18 by not providing for conscientious objection to military service for these two Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the other cases, see communications Nos. 1593 to 1603/2007. Ibid. See also Commission on Human Rights resolutions 2000/66 and 2002/71. CCPR/CO/78/ISR, para. 24, and CCPR/CO/83/GRC, para. 15. See for example Council of Europe, “Conscientious objection to compulsory military service”, Strasbourg 2007, and the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, working group to prepare the draft American declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, Outcomes of the Tenth Meetings of Negotiations in the quest for points of consensus, La Paz, – 23-27 April 2007, art. XXX, para. 4 e. 11