Ülke v. Turkey, No. 39437/98, ECtHR (Second Section), 24 April 2006

Repeated possibility of conviction due to the refusal of performing the military service and inhuman and degrading treatment. Conscientious objection and lack of alternative service to military service in Turkey.

Art. 9 ECHR  
Art. 3 ECHR  

1. The repeated possibility of being convicted for the refusal of performing the military service, due to the lack of a civilian alternative service, has the effect of repressing the intellectual personality of the person. This is serious enough to give the treatment an inhuman and degrading character.

2. The constant alternation between criminal proceedings and periods of imprisonment is disproportionate to the legitimate aim of ensuring the fulfillment of the obligation of leverage.
(Mr. Ülke was a firm pacifist and had repeatedly refused to perform military service, to the point of burning his letter of conscription. He had been sentenced for having incited to evade military service and, repeatedly, for having refused to wear the military uniform).