Conscientious objector status in Bolivia

Military service is compulsory for all men between the ages of 18 and 22 in Bolivia.  Men and women can volunteer from the age of 16.  Active service is for one year.  Conscientious objection is not recognized by law and desertion is punishable by imprisonment.

On June 9, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a principal organ of the Organization of American States, declared admissible the case of Jose Ignacio Orias Calvo from Bolivia.  The case was presented by Derechos en Accion (Rights in Action) on his behalf, alleging that his human right to conscientious objection to military service had been violated.  The petition was filed four years ago, on July 18, 2016, and indicated that the alleged victim declares himself an atheist who believes "in life, in nonviolence, in loe and in collaboration over imposition", which is why the Army and war run counter to his ethical principles.  On July 15, 2015, he requested the Ministry of Defense relieve him from obligatory military service because of his pacifist identity and that he be recognized as a conscientious objector.  On August 20, 2015, the Ministry of Defense denied the request claiming that pursuant to article 249 of the Bolivian Constitution military service is obligatory for every Bolivian.

Orias Calvo filed a writ of amparo (protection of constitutional rights) and the case went up to the Constitutional Court (see photo of two judges of the Court), which denied the amparo declaring that obligatory military service involves actions that do not carry a warlike environment such as assistance in cases of natural disasters, protection of the environment, safeguarding internal security and democratic processes, among others.

Although "conscientious objection" is not included either in the Constitution or in the Law on National Defense Service (LSND), certain people are exempted from serving, such as the only sons of mothers who are widowed, or sons of old and impoverished parents, or someone who has parents who are older than 70 years of age and the son is the sole support; or the eldest son or only son of a father who died in an international war or during his Military Service, etc.

An earlier case of a Bolivian who sought conscientious objector status, the case of Adolfo Diaz Bustos, published in the Commission's Annual Report 2005, ended in a friendly settlement, which was finally complied with in 2018, although Mr. Diaz Bustos' was exempted from military service, Bolivia never incorporated conscientious objection into its military code.