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Demand the Immediate Release of Grzegorz Gawel

This petition calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Grzegorz Gawel, a Polish citizen unlawfully detained in Belarus. His imprisonment represents a clear violation of international human rights standards, including freedom of conscience, due process, and protection from arbitrary detention.

Grzegorz Gawel, a Polish Catholic monk and humanitarian, has been unlawfully detained in Belarus and recognized by human rights defenders as a political prisoner. He is being held incommunicado under fabricated espionage charges. We demand his immediate release and full respect for international human rights law.

Petition demands

Immediately and unconditionally release Grzegorz Gawel and drop all charges against him.
Guarantee immediate access to an independent lawyer and to representatives of the Polish consular services.
Disclose his place of detention and ensure independent medical supervision.
Cease the practice of forced confessions and propaganda broadcasts involving detainees.
End the misuse of “espionage” charges against religious figures, humanitarian workers and foreign nationals.
Respect international human rights obligations, including the ICCPR and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Why is this important?

We call for the immediate and unconditional release of Grzegorz Gawel, a Polish citizen, Catholic monk of the Carmelite Order, and a recognized political prisoner unlawfully detained in the Republic of Belarus.

Grzegorz Gawel was detained on 4 September 2025 by officers of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) and charged under Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“Espionage”). These accusations are manifestly unfounded and politically motivated, and have been officially rejected by the Government of the Republic of Poland.

Belarusian human rights organizations, including Our House and the Viasna Human Rights Center, have recognized Grzegorz Gawel as a political prisoner.

Since his detention, he has been held incommunicado. His place of detention has not been officially disclosed. There is no confirmed access to an independent lawyer or to Polish consular representatives. No court hearings have been scheduled. State media have broadcast so-called “confession” videos characteristic of coercion and psychological pressure.

As a religious figure engaged in humanitarian and missionary work, Grzegorz Gawel is being persecuted for reasons related to his identity, beliefs, and the broader repressive policies of the Belarusian authorities toward foreign nationals, religious actors, and civil society.

Recipients

This petition is formally addressed to:

United Nations Human Rights Committee
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

Copies of this petition are sent to:

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus
UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
European Union institutions responsible for human rights policy
Council of Europe bodies and monitoring mechanisms
Government of the Republic of Poland
Governments of democratic states

References

Full Article Here

Nuclear weapons in Europe do not make us safer – they make the world more dangerous

Oscar Ernerot of the Olof Palme International Center responds to Daniel Färm’s editorial in AiP arguing that Europe may need its own nuclear umbrella as America’s can no longer be trusted.

Nuclear weapons are increasingly discussed not as an existential threat to humanity, but as security-providing. Even within our own movement. This is an ominous development. More actors today have access to nuclear weapons, and the treaties that previously limited their proliferation have been weakened or are about to expire. Disarmament has stalled amidst dramatically increasing geopolitical tensions, where rhetoric surrounding the use of nuclear weapons is progressively worsening.

Yurii Sheliazhenko*, Conscientious Objector to Military Service and Human Rights Defender, under Immediate Threat

JOINT PRESS RELEASE | 23 January 2026

The undersigned organizations express serious concern regarding the continued persecution of Ukrainian human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko, a conscientious objector to military service. He is currently under an alarming threat of being arrested and forcibly conscripted under Ukraine’s system of universal military registration, which is enforced through coercive measures including arbitrary detentions and forced transfers to conscription offices. Such practices effectively compel conscientious objectors to act against their beliefs and directly violate Article 18(2) of the ICCPR, which prohibits coercion impairing freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

In answer to his appeals against the summon recently received at Christmas time, Yurii Sheliazhenko was sent a communication from a number of authorities, all stating in writing that there is not recognition of conscientious objection to military service in Ukraine in times of war. The Secretariat of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets replied to a related complaint, “mobilization by the State of Ukraine is the only necessary and urgent measure to prevent aggression by another state, during which the possibility of alternative service is excluded (since mobilization itself is aimed not simply at performing military service, but at protecting the Motherland from military invasion by another state). At the same time, the current legislation provides for the liability of persons guilty of violating the legislation on military duty and military service.”

Inputs for OHCHR: Conscientious objection to military service in Belarus

Belarus systematically suppresses conscientious objection, expanding criminal penalties, militarization, and coercive recruitment while undermining international human rights standards.

January 15, 2026

1. Brief summary

Belarus maintains compulsory military service for male citizens of conscription age (18-27 years), with conscription generally taking place twice a year. IIn 2025, this is confirmed by official documents on spring and autumn conscription.¹ ²

After completing their fixed-term military service, citizens are subject to enlistment in the reserve and continue to perform military duties until they reach the maximum age for remaining in the reserve, as established by the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Military Duty and Military Service.” Depending on the reserve category and military category, this age is in some cases up to 60 years, and for certain categories of conscripts, up to 65 years.³ ⁴

In wartime or when mobilization is declared, the law allows for the expansion of the age range for conscripts.⁵

IPB Statement on Iran Protests

The International Peace Bureau (IPB) expresses our deep concern for the situation in Iran, even as the most recent protests are reported to be winding down. The repeated cycle of protests have become more regular and have been met by disproportionate and unacceptable levels of violence against legitimate demands. The thousands of Iranians killed, injured, and arrested during the past month should shock and concern everyone, even while the complete information blackout makes it difficult to determine totals. The IPB unequivocally condemns the violence of the Iranian state against protesters.

Quantum Scientists Publish Manifesto Against the Militarization of Research

Quantum technologies are often presented in public discourse as one of the most promising scientific frontiers of the twenty-first century. The so-called “second quantum revolution” encompasses developments such as quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensing—technologies that are now transitioning from fundamental research to early industrial applications. While large-scale commercial deployment is still limited, concrete uses are already emerging, particularly in sensing and secure communications.

Monaeka Flores – Board Member

Monaeka Flores has been elected as a board member in 2025.

Monaeka is the Executive Director and a founding member of Prutehi
Guåhan (formerly Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian) and a
founding member and core organizer of the collective Mariånas for Palestine.

Prutehi Guåhan is a community-based direct-action group in Guam, an “unincorporated territory” and military colony of the United States. The group is dedicated to the struggle against U.S. Imperialism and the Military Industrial Complex that is plundering and plaguing our planet.

Prutehi Guåhan works through direct action strategies, legal strategies and lawsuits, advocacy and information campaigns, community building, and international solidarity. Prutehi Guåhan want to determine a future that aligns with their indigenous values of respect, care, and sustainability.

Youngah Lee – Board Member

Youngah Lee has been elected as a board member of IPB in 2025.

Youngah Lee works at People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) as Manager of the Center for Peace and Disarmament and is also working at the secretariat of the Korea Peace Action Campaign. She has worked on peace, disarmament, international conflict and human rights issues since 2010.

Quique Sánchez Ochoa – Board Member

Quique Sánchez Ochoa was elected as an IPB board member in 2025.

Quique holds a bachelor in Political Science and a master’s degree in International Peace, Conflict and Development Studies. His career, activism and research are dedicated to peacebuilding and social and environmental justice. He works as a project manager at Centre Delàs of Peace Studies and is part of the coordination team of the Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS).

Reiner Braun – Board Member

Reiner Braun was a board member of IPB from 2006 to 2013, then Co-President until 2019 and subsequently Executive Director from 2019 to 2022. Following a break from 2022 to 2025, he was elected a board member in 2025 for the upcoming term (2025-2028).

Reiner studied German literature, history and journalism. He was actively involved in the ‘Krefeld Appeal’ and the actions of the peace movement in the 1980s. Reiner is on the board of the ‘NaturwissenschaftlerInnen-Initiative – Verantwortung für Frieden und Zukunftsfähigkeit’, he is a founder and long-standing managing director of INES (International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility) and was managing director of IALANA (International Lawyers against Nuclear Weapons) and the VDW (Federation of German Scientists, German Pugwash group).