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Urgent Action: Free Conscientious Objector Yurii Sheliazhenko

Yurii Sheliazhenko, Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, IPB Council member, and a well-known conscientious objector, was detained by Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv on Thursday, March 19th. This action was taken without a proper legal basis and without compliance with the procedural safeguards required by Ukrainian law. It is a targeted human rights violation which IPB rejects completely.

Many of you have had the chance to hear Yurii speak in online events and read his work on the importance of conscientious objection and nonviolent resistance over his many years of work. Now is the moment to stand in solidarity with Yurii and demand that the Ukrainian authorities free him immediately.

We urge you to join us in demanding that the Ukrainian government drop the prosecution of Yurii by signing the petition to the Ukrainian government below.

Please Sign the peition Here

We also encourage you to contact the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with a letter demanding they take action to secure Yurii’s freedom. A sample letter is below:

To: Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

To: Maria Telalian, Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

Subject: Protection for Ukrainian Human Rights Defender and Conscientious Objector Yurii Sheliazhenko

Dear Commissioner Türk, dear Director Telalian,

On Thursday, 19 March 2026, Ukrainian Human Rights Defender and Conscientious Objector Yurii Sheliazhenko was apprehended by Ukrainian officers of the Pechersk District Police in Kyiv without a proper legal basis and without compliance with the procedural safeguards required by Ukrainian law. The authorities presented no clear legal grounds for the deprivation of liberty and Yurii’s access to legal counsel was obstructed. We strongly suspect that Yurii is to be transferred to a Territorial Centre of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC) without due legal procedure.

Yurii is a well-known conscientious objector, which he has publicly declared since 1998. He is the Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, which has repeatedly been harassed by Ukrainian authorities in particular since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Since then, Yurii has been repeatedly targeted with threats of imprisonment on faulty charges and forced conscription.

It is well documented that the right to conscientious objection is a fundamental human right, as outlined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), based in the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right has likewise been recognized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It is important to emphasize that the right to conscientious objection is of most vital importance in active wars and conflicts.

Yurii’s case has been supported by a wide range of international and regional organizations, including Amnesty International, War Resisters International, European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Connection e.V., World Beyond War, and the International Peace Bureau (IPB). Our networks around the world are watching his case closely.

We strongly urge the United Nations and the OSCE to take urgent action to protect Yurii Sheliazhenko’s right to conscientious objection and freedom of speech in Ukraine. This may include, but is not limited to, opening investigations into the Ukrainian authorities’ violations of Yurii’s human rights, releasing public statements expressing concern for Yurii’s wellbeing, and emphasizing the inalienable right to conscientious objection and freedom of expression during war.

We count on your support to provide justice and accountability in Yurii’s case.

Further Actions to support Yurii:

Contact and write to your (and others) local Embassies in Ukraine:
Contact and write to the Ukrainian Embassy in your country: (this is a useful link https://mfa.gov.ua/en/diplomatic-missions/foreign-diplomatic-institutions-ukraine to search their contacts)
Contact political representatives in your country and in regional and international institutions
Contact the Kiev Police Department: police@kyiv.police.gov.ua, Tel. +380 44 254 94 88
Write to the Kiev Enlistment Office: pechersk_rvk@post.mil.gov.ua
Contact the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs: pgmia@mvs.gov.ua, Tel. +380 44 256 03 33
Contact the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: admou@post.mil.gov.ua
Contact the Ukrainian Ombudsman: hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua, Tel. +380 44 253 75 89
Contact the State Bureau of Investigation: crime@dbr.gov.ua, Tel. +380 44 300 27 07
Inform the media
Share on your social media, political networks, etc.
Share with your contacts and invite other organizations, agencies, and institutions to take action
Support the “CO Alert” launched by War Resisters International

Germany Fourth Largest Exporter of War Weapons – with Fatal Consequences!

Action Aufschrei Demands a Turn Towards a Culture of Peace

The alliance Aktion Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel! (Outcry – Stop the Arms Trade!) strongly criticizes the trend in the global arms trade, as presented in the latest figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). It was to be feared that Germany would move up to fourth place with a global share of 5.7%, ahead of China, behind the USA, France and Russia. Germany has been among the top group of global exporters for years. The trend is sharply rising, as German arms deliveries increased by a dramatic 15 percent in the period from 2021 to 2025 (compared to 2016 to 2020).

The SIPRI figures show at an alarming rate the speed at which arms races are accelerating worldwide, but they inadequately address the resulting problems. Because German weapons and armaments are not simply sold; they are also used in conflicts around the world.

Open Letter to Governments of West Asia

[ARABIC BELOW]

To the governments of West Asia;

We, the undersigned members of global civil society, are deeply alarmed by the war on Iran and the escalating violence threatening to engulf West Asia in a wider, devastating war.

GDAMS 2026 Appeal · A Call to Action Against Global Militarization

The global security landscape has deteriorated massively in recent years: the number of wars and violent armed conflicts active today is the highest since the end of World War II, erupting across the world and drawing in an unprecedented number of states and actors. From Gaza and the West Bank, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, and beyond, levels of violence, civilian suffering, and violations of international law have reached heinous heights, including the commission of genocide.

Massive US War Spending Hike Raises Debt, Taxes, Doubts

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 27 2026 (IPS) – As US President Donald Trump pushes the world to war, arms spending has been rising worldwide. Wars secure more budgetary allocations, mainly benefiting the US-dominated military-industrial complex.

US military spending increases

After bombing Venezuela, the Trump administration raised its war budget from $1.0 trillion, 47% of discretionary government spending in 2024, to $1.5 trillion!

In 2024, the US accounted for over 36% of the world’s military spending of $2.7 trillion! This exceeded the total expenditure of the next nine biggest spenders – China, Russia, Germany, India, UK, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, France, and Japan!

China’s military budget for 2025 was $250-300 billion. Most others are US allies who have pledged to increase war spending from under 2% of GDP to 5%!

Macron’s “Advanced Deterrence”: A Dangerous Shift in French Nuclear Policy

By: Alain Rouy, IPB Vice President and Le Mouvement de la Paix President

French | English

On March 2, 2026, at L’Ile Longue nuclear military base in Brittany, Emmanuel Macron gave an extremely bellicose, dangerous, and irresponsible speech on French nuclear weapons.

Macron developed a new concept, that of “advanced deterrence”, which consists of positioning French strategic air forces in other European countries and allowing those countries to participate in nuclear exercises “in full transparency with the United States of America and in close coordination with the United Kingdom,” and in close cooperation with Germany.

Statement by the World Peace Foundation RDCONGO Africa: In response to the attacks against Iran and the military escalation in the Middle East

In response to the attacks against Iran and the military escalation in the Middle East

The World Peace Foundation DRCongo Africa expresses its deep concern and solidarity with the International Peace Bureau (IPB) in condemning the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran. These military actions constitute a serious violation of international law and threaten the stability not only of the Middle East but also of the entire global community.

For a New Foundation of International Institutions

The United States’ withdrawal from UNESCO,combined with the drastic reduction of its financial aid to UN agencies promoting the achievement of the SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals), was already undermining the objective of “human security” theorized by the UNDP in 1994 and progressively highlighted by various UN agencies, as acknowledged for example by Bertrand Badie in his book”L’Art de la Paix”(“The Art of Peace”-2024).

We are now witnessing a new assault on the United Nations(UN) with the establishment by the President of the United States of a “Peace Council”,with prerogatives that would extend beyond the question of Gaza.

Working Paper “On the Problem of Military GHG Emissions Assessment”

Published By: The Centre d’Estudis per la Pau J.M. Delàs (Centre of Studies for Peace J.M. Delàs)

The climate emergency represents one of the most serious problems currently facing humankind. It is widely known that anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) – those released by human activities – continue to be drivers of climate change. Both armed forces and the military industry emit GHGs. Signatories to the Paris Agreement are required to report their emissions; however, reporting the activity of their armed forces remains voluntary, and many choose not to do so. Combined with the vague and fragmented information the military industry tends to provide, this makes it difficult to obtain a clear and reliable picture of the GHG emissions for which the military sector is actually responsible. This being the case, numerous researchers have attempted to evaluate these emissions using a range of methodologies and primary sources.

The Hour is Getting Late: Report from the United States

Joseph Gerson, IPB Co-President
Speech delivered online at the Bikini Day Commemoration – Annual Gensuikyo Conference
Shizuoka, Japan | February 27, 2026

Battered by U.S. and Russian aggressions, the survival of the U.N., its charter, and international law are in jeopardy. Expiration of New START, inadequate though it was, eliminated the last remaining U.S.-Russian arms control agreement. China is annually adding about one hundred thermonuclear weapons to its arsenal, leaving us hostages to three nuclear scorpions in a bottle. Within the last year India, Pakistan, and Israel – all nuclear powers – have gone to war. Europeans are negotiating a second nuclear umbrella. North Korea continues its nuclear and missile deployments. And from South Korea to Poland, including Japan, there are pressures to join the club of nuclear terrorists.