Conscientious objector and human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko has been arrested by the Ukrainian military police.
20/03/2026
According to reports from the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, Connection eV, the International Association for Reconciliation and War Resisters’ International, Yurii Sheliazhenko was arrested yesterday morning in Kyiv and could be subject to forced conscription.
Yurii Sheliazhenko is a well-known Ukrainian conscientious objector who publicly declared his status in 1998, as well as a pacifist and human rights defender. He is also an academic and executive secretary of the Ukrainian Peace Movement (a member organisation of War Resisters International), director of the Ukrainian Institute for Peace and Law, and a member of the board of directors of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and World Beyond War.
According to the information available, Yurii was arrested by police officers from the Pechersk district without adequate legal grounds and without complying with the procedural safeguards required by Ukrainian law. In particular, there is sufficient evidence that:
- No arrest report was drawn up.
- No clear legal grounds were provided for the deprivation of liberty.
- Access to legal counsel was obstructed.
- Contact with the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine was impeded.
- He was transferred, or intended to be transferred, to a Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support (TCRSS) without the necessary legal safeguards.
These actions may constitute various violations of the Constitution of Ukraine and the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The aforementioned organisations have expressed their consternation at the arrest and detention of Yurii Sheliazhenko, noting that this occurred just a few weeks after they issued a joint appeal to the Ukrainian authorities to cease their persecution of conscientious objectors, and in particular the persecution currently being carried out against Sheliazhenko.
They note that, tragically, Yurii Sheliazhenko had previously denounced the cruel practices of ‘busification’ (1), forced recruitment and compulsory military registration taking place in Ukraine, which in some cases have even led to torture and deaths in military recruitment centres (2).
They reiterate their call on the international community to take all necessary measures to ensure that human rights defenders and peace activists are not criminalised for their actions in support of peace and non-violence; furthermore, that the right to conscientious objection be fully applied in accordance with international standards and that conscientious objectors receive the necessary protection against persecution in their country of origin, including asylum.
They also recall:
- That their case has already been included in a communication from the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, in another from the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, and in that of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. (3)
- That the communications from the Special Rapporteurs and the response from the Ukrainian authorities have already been highlighted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its report on conscientious objection to military service, and in particular in the chapter entitled: ‘Refrain from unduly restricting the human rights of those who represent or defend the rights of conscientious objectors’. (4)
- That this is also included in Amnesty International’s Annual Report 2023/2024. (5)
They strongly condemn all these actions by the Ukrainian authorities as serious human rights violations that have no place in democratic countries.
They urge the Ukrainian government to immediately release Yurii Sheliazhenko and cease all forced conscription procedures.
Here is a link to their statement:
Sign here to show your support for Yurii Sheliazhenko and to report his unlawful detention to the Ukrainian authorities:
https://wri-irg.org/en/comment/reply/node/42889/field_sign_the_petition
(1) The term ‘busification’ (in Ukrainian and Russian, ‘busyfikatsiya’) is a neologism that emerged in Ukraine following the imposition of martial law to refer to a specific practice within forced conscription.
(2) https://ebco-beoc.org/ukraine/2024
(3) AL UKR 1/2023, 8 November 2023, p. 5-6. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=28562
(4) A/HRC/56/30, 23 April 2024, paragraph 45. https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/56/30
(5) https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/7200/2024/en/ p. 385.