Austria: Update to Conscientious objection to military service: a summary of recent concerns

Index Number: EUR 13/002/1997
Date Published: 1 February 1997
Categories: Austria, Europe And Central Asia

On 13 February 1997 Amnesty International published the above report in which it examined the latest legislative amendment to the Alternative Service Law and the cases of conscientious objectors Herwig Matzka, Peter Zwiauer and Andreas Gruber. Amnesty International has since learned that the new Minister of the Interior has re-examined the law, and that men declared fit to serve before 1 January 1992 would, after all, be given the right to submit an application for alternative service, a right originally denied in the new legislation. Although Amnesty International welcomes this concession, there remains concern about the restrictions imposed on time limits.