Belarusian conscientious objectors and Belarusian deserters, who are afraid of being drawn into military actions against Ukraine and do not want to take up arms, face refusals of political asylum in Lithuania en masse.

The official refusal that the Lithuanian Migration Department writes to almost all conscientious objectors is as follows:

«Baltarusijos Konstitucijos 57 straipsnyje yra įtvirtinta nuostata, jog ginti šalį ir atlikti karinę prievolę yra kiekvieno Baltarusijos piliečio pareiga».

“Article 57 of the Constitution of Belarus enshrines the provision that it is the duty of every citizen of Belarus to defend the country and fulfil military duty.”

And that’s not true.

Because Article 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus says quite the opposite.

It does contain the words “Defence of the Republic of Belarus is the duty and sacred duty of a citizen of the Republic of Belarus“.

But the Belarusian Constitution speaks differently about service in the army – not that everyone should serve, but that not everyone should serve in the army.

Here is an exact quote from the Belarusian Constitution:

“The procedure for military service, the grounds and conditions for exemption from military service or its replacement by alternative service shall be determined by law.”

As you can see, there is not a word about “debts of Belarusans” in relation to the army.

I.e. even the Belarusian Constitution recognises the right to refuse to serve in the army, but Lithuanian Migration Department considers that Belarusians have no right to refuse to serve in the army.

Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which, incidentally, Lithuania has also signed) states that “No one shall be subjected to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”, which means that if a Belarusan believes that serving in the army contradicts his beliefs – no one, not even Lithuanian Migration Department, has the right to force him to serve in the army and force him to take up arms.