How do the various European(Germany, Italy, Nordic countries, Greece, Switzerland) countries that have conscription punish men who refuse to serve in the military or perform the alternative service?
In France you were sentenced to jail. Generally one year (the same lenght as the mandatory military service). AFAIK you could be “presented the uniform” when released and could be tried again if you still refused to be drafted (each refusal was considered a separate offense). I believe it was uncommon, though, since the army didn’t really want people who consistently refused to serve. So, you could choose between one year in jail and one year in the military, sort of (but without guarantee. I don’t know what was the maximal sentence).
That would be in time of peace, of course. In time of war, you could get life, in theory, I believe.
Mandatory military service has been discontinued in France some years ago.
If you don’t request recognition as a conscientious objector you can be drafted at any time after your 18th birthday (If you are still in school, you can request a delay.) If you don’t show up as ordered, the military police will get you by force. Because you have to register your residence anyway, they know were to find you and they know that you are required to serve. Then you are technically a soldier. You are guilty of desertion and/or objecting orders. So they throw you into military jail, in blocks of 21 days, isolated. After a certain time (apparently three times 21 days are common) they ban you from service. You are not allowed to serve or wear a uniform, but you remain a soldier. This way they reserve the right to call you back into service and start the whole process again if they feel like it. Then they hand you over to a civilian court. In principle you face up to five years in prison, nowadays it is usually less than a year with probation, but you will most likely count as “previously convicted” for life.
If you are a conscientious objector you request your recognition. It is your constitutional right and you are recognized as long as you get the formalities right. Then you have to serve a slightly longer alternative service. If you refuse this, it is legally more or less the same thing as above, but you skip right to the civilian trial. So if you want to dodge the draft totally and on purpose (some religious groups do this) then this is the way to go because you avoid some of the nastier steps of the process. Of course the probation/prison time remains.