E/CN.4/1993/62 page 97 On the basis of his religious beliefs, Mr. Maillard refused to serve in the army and was sentenced by a military court on 28 August 1989 to a penalty of three months’ light imprisonment. This sentence was in keeping with the legislation in force at the time of the judgement and compatible with freedom of conscience and belief, whose inviolability is guaranteed by article 49 of the Federal Constitution, paragraph 5 of which provides that no one may be exempted on religious grounds from doing his civic duty. However, the obligation to serve in the army is just such a duty, since, according to article 18 of the Federal Constitution, "Every Swiss shall be bound to perform military service". It follows that the duty to serve does not create discrimination, since it applies to all Swiss citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs. Mr. Maillard was thus sentenced for having refused to do his civic duty - admittedly on religious grounds, but not on account of his religious beliefs themselves. 2. The legislation on which the August 1989 judgement was based was amended as a result of the popular vote of 2 June 1991 in which conscientious objection was decriminalized following the adoption of a new article 81 of the Military Penal Code which entered into force on 15 July 1991: anyone who, on the grounds of fundamental ethical values, makes a convincing case for not being able to reconcile military service and the dictates of his conscience is, of course, recognized guilty, but the court replaces the prison term by an obligation to do work in the general interest. The duration of this obligation is one and one half times longer than the total length of military service refused, but may not last more than two years. In addition, proof of the existence of a serious conflict of conscience is no longer required and the term "fundamental ethical values" also covers religious beliefs. The sentence no longer appears on the person’s police record. 3. Despite this recent change in the relevant Swiss legislation, the discussion of the possible introduction of non-military service is still going on. Following the June 1991 vote, the Government itself interpreted the amendment to the Military Penal Code as a kind of intermediate step in the solution to the problem of conscientious objection to military service. A parliamentary initiative, which is the result of the first initiative of this kind (withdrawn in the meantime) and two initiatives in the cantons of Geneva and the Jura, was adopted by the Federal Assembly on 13 December 1991 and will shortly be submitted to the Federal Government for approval. The text proposes an amendment to article 18, paragraph 1, of the Federal Constitution: "Every Swiss shall be bound to perform military service. The law shall provide for the organization of non-military service". It is still too early to tell what will happen to this parliamentary bill. If the Federal Government’s decision is favourable, it will be voted on by the Swiss people and cantons and then become an act which will also be submitted to an optional referendum. In the past, however, the Swiss people has voted twice against non-military service."