Parents protest ‘discrimination’ on military service

By Elias Hazou

PARENTS are threatening not to send their sons to the army in protest at the government’s decision to give conscientious objectors a civilian alternative to military service.

The threat came as the Cyprus Association of Parents called a press conference to add its voice to protests about the decision, which they see as discriminatory against those who do their national service.

And a spokeswoman for the association told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that should the new law be enforced, they would oppose sending their sons to the army, so that they would not face that discrimination.

In a statement released yesterday, the association outlined its reasons for opposing the new law.

First, it says that no other state accepts the right to object to military service; second, the parents claim the move would mean discrimination against those who do serve their country; and finally, they say the new law cannot be accepted because it was proposed by religious minorities, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, who, according to the organisation, do not recognise the government’s authority in such matters.

In recent years, the government has come under harsh criticism from Amnesty International for its severe treatment of conscientious objectors, mainly Jehovah’s Witnesses. The human rights group charged that unarmed alternatives were punitive in length, stretching way beyond 26 months.

Earlier this week, the Pancyprian Organisation of Large Families expressed its anger at the decision, saying there were no acceptable grounds for refusing to do military service.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.