E/CN.4/1991/56 page 29 immunity from coercion in religious matters is embodied in article 53 of the Constitution, so that nobody can be compelled 'to observe practices contrary to his conscience', this provision has not been supplemented by rules on the situation of conscientious objectors towards military service, for requests of this kind are not consistently made in our country." Cuba "Conscientious objection to compulsory military service by some religious communities has been solved in a practical manner. For example, members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, who object to bearing arms and firing weapons, are used during their military service as drivers, stretcher bearers, cooks, and so on. Again, Jehovah's Witnesses, who demand to be exempt from military service, are either not called up - which does not signify that the Government recognizes their requests — or they may opt for the Young Peoples' Labour Army, which takes part in paid activities." Dominica "Dominica has no military service. Consequently, it does not have to deal with conscientious objection to compulsory military service." Dominican Republic "There is no compulsory military service in the Dominican Republic." Ecuador "Both the Constitution and the law on military service specify that it is a civic duty compulsory for all Ecuadorian males from 18 to 55 years of age. According to the Ministry of Defence, so far no cases of conscientious objection have arisen, and if they should, such convictions would not constitute a reason for exemption from military service." Finland Generally speaking, military service in Finland means bearing arms. In some circumstances, armed military service may be replaced by unarmed military service or by community service. Authorization for unarmed service or community service requires jusitification of religious or moral beliefs which forbid bearing arms. Hitherto, a special committee of inquiry was in charge of determining whether the beliefs advanced by conscripts were genuine and whether authorization for another kind of service was to be granted or refused. As from 1987, Finland will adopt a system under which the religious or moral beliefs of conscripts will no longer need to be determined. At the same time, the substitute community service will be prolonged and will now last 16 months (normal military service lasts 8 to 12 months). In addition, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious community may benefit periodically from deferral and ultimately from exemption from military service in times of peace. The above-mentioned provisions appear in the Act amending the Unarmed Military Service and Substitute Community Service Act (647/85). Articles 1 and 3 of the Act state: