We Condemn the Illegal Detention of Conscientious Objector Yurii Sheliazhenko

Statement of the International Center for Civil Initiatives «Our House»

We express our strongest outrage at the unlawful detention of Yurii Sheliazhenko, a human rights defender, pacifist, and conscientious objector, carried out in Kyiv by officers of the Pechersk District Police together with an unidentified individual claiming to represent a Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC).

This operation bore all the hallmarks of arbitrariness and abuse of power. No detention protocol was issued. Law enforcement officers ignored Yurii’s right to legal defense and proceeded without waiting for his lawyer. He was forcibly taken to an undisclosed location. Such actions constitute not only a blatant violation of Ukrainian law but also a grave breach of fundamental human rights.

We emphasize that conscientious objection to military service is not a crime. It is a protected and non-derogable human right under Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This right applies in all circumstances, including wartime. No state, under any pretext of emergency, has the authority to suppress freedom of thought, conscience, and belief.

The persecution of Yurii Sheliazhenko is not an isolated incident but part of a sustained campaign against dissent. Since 2023, he has faced criminal charges carrying up to five years of imprisonment and property confiscation simply for advocating a peaceful resolution to war. His home was searched, his devices seized, and he was subjected to prolonged house arrest while his trial has been repeatedly delayed. His only «crime» is the public expression of pacifist views and the defense of the right to refuse participation in war.

We categorically reject the criminalization of pacifism and the intimidation of those who stand for nonviolence. Attempts to equate calls for peace with support for aggression are politically motivated and fundamentally incompatible with democratic principles.

We demand the immediate release of Yurii Sheliazhenko, full respect for his legal rights and personal safety, cessation of all politically motivated prosecution against him and compliance by Ukrainian authorities with their international human rights obligations.

We will continue to monitor this case and call on the international community to respond decisively to this violation of fundamental freedoms.