QCEA is asking the Council of Europe for the establishment of a legal right to conscientious objection to the use of our tax money for military purposes. We have drafted a resolution to this effect, based on the text of the resolution which legally affirmed the right to conscientious objection to military service.

QCEA has also produced a series of briefing papers looking at the proposals relating to the recognition of Conscientious Objection to taxation for military purposes which we are making to the Council of Europe and sets them in the context of the Council of Europe and its prior work on Conscientious Objection to Military Service. In relation to this, QCEA has also published a report providing an overview of the current situation of conscientious objection in Europe.

QCEA works on issues relating to the right to conscientious objection to taxation for military purposes. QCEA proposes the establishment of the legal right for individual taxpayers to direct a relevant proportion of their tax away from military uses, and towards peacebuilding, international development, and the many alternatives to war. We plan to present a resolution to the Council of Europe which establishes this right under Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights on freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The principle of freedom of conscience is a basic human right, and the current tax policies force complicity in war on pacifists, Buddhists, Quakers and others who are compelled towards peace by belief, by instinct or by simple humanity. Thus the tax systems in most European Countries disregard the freedom of conscience, and undermine the fundamental aspects of religious, moral and human identity.

Governments are using war as an instrument of policy. Today, they are employing increasingly sophisticated instruments, binding the civilian population to participate in preparing for war. The changed nature of warfare involves fewer, yet more highly trained soldiers, more frequent use of bombs and an increased number of civilian casualties. In order to conduct war in modern times, civilian tax money is of utmost importance, thus making conscription a less significant contributor. Civilians pay compulsory military taxes.

QCEA is asking the Council of Europe for the establishment of a legal right to conscientious objection to the use of our tax money for military purposes. We have drafted a resolution to this effect, based on the text of the resolution which legally affirmed the right to conscientious objection to military service.

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