Oral statement given at the plenary of the Human Rights Council on the situaton of human rights in Ukraine
UN Human Rights Council, 57th Session
(08.10.2024) Today at the UN in Geneva on the occasion of the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council, it took place the interactive dialogue in the plenary on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. On this occasion, Connection e.V. together with War Resisters’ International prepared and delivered in the plenary a statement addressing the situation of conscientious objectors and the prosecution of human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko.
You can watch the recording of the Interactive Dialogue here.
Statement by WRI and Connection e.V. as pdf-file
Mr. President, Mr. High Commissioner,
War Resisters’ International (WRI) thanks the High Commissioner for the update.
We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine suffering from Russian aggression1, conscription and mandatory military registration in the occupied territories. There, officials summoned priest Feognost Pushkov to be included in the military register, whose refusal leads to the threat of five years in prison2.
The human right to conscientious objection to military service is de facto currently not recognized in Ukraine. In 43 cases, objectors have been sentenced to real or suspended prison terms. For instance, prosecution insists on incarceration for the objector Vitalii Alexeienko. The Adventist Dmytro Zelinsky is serving 3-years prison term for his conscientious objection. It has been reported that according to the Supreme Court conscientious objectors could do non-combatant duties in the army. In reality this is not the case: a Baptist who tried to do so was charged for disobedience and detained.3
Andrii Vyshnevetsky, a Christian pacifist objector, has been denied in discharge [and even to see his family] and was given the order to serve in artillery unit which he can’t obey because of his conscience.
WRI and its partner Connection e.V. are deeply concerned about the prosecution of the human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko, for his peace activism.4
We urge Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, detentions for refusal to fight5 and military indoctrination in schools, [contrary to international humanitarian law]6.
We call on Ukraine to fully implement the human right to conscientious objection to military service [in line with international standards], stop the persecution of conscientious objectors and human rights defenders who support them7.
Thank you.
2 https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2924
3 https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/57/NGO/308
5 https://astra.press/english/2024/08/16/4078/
7 https://ebco-beoc.org/sites/ebco-beoc.org/files/2024-05-15-EBCO_Annual_Report_2023-24.pdf
Connection e.V. and War Resisters’ International: Oral statement given at the plenary of the Human Rights Council on the situaton of human rights in Ukraine, 57th Session. October 8, 2024
Keywords: ⇒ Conscientious Objection ⇒ Human Rights ⇒ Ukraine