Ukrainian Quaker calls for human rights reforms after detention
A Ukrainian Quaker who was beaten, dragged by his feet and pepper-sprayed multiple times during two days of unlawful detention has called on authorities to introduce sweeping protections for conscientious objectors.
Yurii Sheliazhenko, a conscientious objector from Kyiv, was stopped by military recruitment officers on the street in mid-March 2026 and forcibly taken to a recruitment centre, where he was held against his will.
When he asked for medical attention, he was told this was not possible, though he was eventually helped to wash the pepper spray from his face.
His mobile phone was taken and has not been returned, which is illegal under Ukrainian law.
Throughout his ordeal Yurii consistently told those holding him that he was a conscientious objector.
They said they did not care and that he would be sent to the army. At one point he was threatened with electric shock treatment.
Despite official complaints and injuries documented by a forensic medical examination, neither the police nor the State Bureau of Investigation has opened a formal investigation.
Since his release Yurii has resumed supporting other Ukrainian conscientious objectors and has written to Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets.
He asked Lubinets to visit the sites where he was held and ensure that arbitrary detention and torture is brought to an end.
In his complaint, Yurii proposed:
- requiring conscription offices to provide phones so detainees can contact relatives or a lawyer;
- displaying information on detainees' rights, including the right to conscientious objection;
- creating a civilian alternative to military service;
- and legislative reform to stop attempts to coerce pacifists into abandoning their beliefs.
Yurii hopes that growing international awareness will lead Ukraine to align its legislation with recommendations from the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ending the systemic imprisonment, arbitrary detention and torture of conscientious objectors.
Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said: "We are appalled by what Yurii has suffered. To be beaten, pepper-sprayed and threatened with electric shock treatment for peacefully asserting his beliefs is a grave violation of Yurii's humanity.
“Quakers have upheld the right to conscientious objection for more than one hundred years, rooted in our belief that there is that of God in every person.
“We call on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate what happened to him and to honour their international human rights commitments without further delay."