Source: www.forum18.org
Date: January 17 2023
46-year-old Christian Vitaly Alekseenko expects to be taken to begin his
one-year jail term on 19 January. On 16 January, Ivano-Frankivsk Appeal
Court rejected his appeal against his conviction for refusing call up to
the military on conscientious grounds. His is the fifth known Ukrainian
court conviction since Russia renewed its invasion – the other four men
received suspended sentences. "I told the court I agree that I have broken
the law of Ukraine," Alekseenko told Forum 18, "but I am not guilty under
the law of God."
UKRAINE: First known wartime conscientious objector jailing
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
For the first known time since Russia renewed its invasion of Ukraine in
February 2022, Ukraine has jailed an individual for refusing on grounds of
conscience a military call-up. On 16 January, the Appeal Court in the
south-western city of Ivano-Frankivsk rejected the appeal by 46-year-old
Christian Vitaly Alekseenko against his one-year jail term. When he gets
the written verdict, which he expects on 19 January, the sentence will go
into force and he expects to be taken to prison immediately afterwards.
"I told the court I agree that I have broken the law of Ukraine,"
Alekseenko told Forum 18 from Ivano-Frankivsk after the appeal hearing,
"but I am not guilty under the law of God. I want to be honest to myself."
He added that had he repented of his "crime", both the lower and the appeal
court would have given him a suspended sentence (see below).
Alekseenko told Forum 18 he would lodge a further appeal. However, such an
appeal would not prevent the sentence now going into force (see below).
Yurii Sheliazhenko, secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, described
the appeal court decision as "bad news". "It is a dangerous precedent that
the appeal court upheld a sentence of imprisonment for a conscientious
objector," he told Forum 18 from the capital Kyiv (see below).
Alekseenko, an internally-displaced person from Donetsk Region, was
summoned to the recruitment office in Ivano-Frankivsk in June 2022. He
explained that because of his religious belief he cannot take up arms. He
was refused alternative civilian service and his case was handed to
prosecutors. On 15 September 2022, Ivano-Frankivsk City Court handed down
the one-year jail term (see below).
An official of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Recruitment Office, who refused to
give his name, said he was not familiar with Alekseenko's case. "We're not
competent to answer your questions," the official told Forum 18. "We
generally offer alternative service to members of religious communities."
The official refused to say how many men had been able to opt for
alternative civilian service since the February 2022 renewed Russian
invasion of Ukraine (see below).
When Forum 18 asked the official why Alekseenko could not have been
assigned an alternative civilian service in a needed occupation at a time
of war, say at a hospital, the official did not explain why (see below).
In four earlier criminal cases in 2022, courts handed conscientious
objectors suspended prison sentences and terms of probation:
- 18 May 2022, Andrii Kucher, Mukachevo, suspended 4-year jail term;
- 21 June 2022, Dmytro Kucherov, Oleksandriia (Kirovohrad Region),
suspended 3-year jail term;
- 17 August 2022, Oleksandr Korobko, Mukachevo, suspended 3-year jail term;
- 22 August 2022, Maryan Kapats, Mukachevo, suspended 3-year jail term.
Kucherov, a member of Source of Life Pentecostal Church, bases his
objection to military service on his Christian faith. The court decisions
in the other three cases describe only the individuals' conscientious
objection to killing people.
Under a 10 November 1999 Cabinet of Ministers Decree, only men who belonged
to 10 specified religious communities that the state recognised as pacifist
were allowed to opt for alternative civilian service. These communities
are: Reformist Adventists; Seventh-day Adventists; Evangelical Christians;
Evangelical Christians–Baptists; "The Penitents" or Slavic Church of the
Holy Ghost; Jehovah's Witnesses; Charismatic Christian Churches (and
associated churches under their registered statutes); Union of Christians
of the Evangelical Faith – Pentecostals (and associated churches under
their registered statutes); Christians of Evangelical Faith; Society for
Krishna Consciousness.
Men who were not members of any of these 10 communities were not eligible
to apply for alternative service.
Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement notes that the verdicts in
all five conscientious objector convictions no longer appear on the public
online register of court verdicts run by the State Court Administration in
Kyiv. "The disappearance from the public register of [Alekseenko's lower
court] verdict and other verdicts where objectors were sentenced to prison
with replacement of incarceration with probation looks like an attempt to
hide the human rights violations from the public," he insisted (see below).
The State Court Administration in Kyiv has not replied to Forum 18's
written question as to why the verdicts in these five cases no longer
appear on the public online register of court verdicts (see below).
Implementation of conscientious objection to military service
In Ukraine, everyone must register their home address with the authorities.
In addition, all men (including conscientious objectors to military
service) must also register with the local military Recruitment Office. All
men are then given a military card which states whether they are doing
military service, have done this, are exempt, are reservists, or have done
alternative service.
In Ukraine, conscientious objectors to military service have long faced
obstacles to doing alternative civilian service
(https://ebco-beoc.org/ukraine
Committee in its 9 February 2022 Concluding Observations on Ukraine
(CCPR/C/UKR/CO/8
(https://documents-dds-ny.un.o
stressed that "alternatives to military service should be available to all
conscientious objectors without discrimination as to the nature of their
beliefs justifying the objection (be they religious beliefs or
non-religious beliefs grounded in conscience)".
On 21 August 2022, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry told the Ukrainian
Pacifist Movement that during martial law the right to do alternative
civilian service has been suspended (see below).
The UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 22 on Article 18 ("Freedom
of thought, conscience and religion") of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) notes that "this right is non-derogable
even during times of national emergency threatening the life of the nation"
(https://www.quno.org/sites/de
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated in 2019
(https://www.quno.org/sites/de
that "the right to conscientious objection to military service is part of
the absolutely protected right to hold a belief under article 18 (1) of the
Covenant, which cannot be restricted by States".
Within Russia in its internationally-recognised boundaries, no legal or
practical provision exists for alternative civilian service during
mobilisation (https://www.forum18.org/archi
the Constitution guaranteeing this right for every citizen.
Russia has within the Ukrainian territories it has illegally occupied since
2014 conscripted men into its armed forces (https://ebco-beoc.org/ukraine
This is a crime under Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/inst
which covers the rights of civilians in territories occupied by another
state (described as "protected persons"). Article 51 states: "The Occupying
Power may not compel protected persons to serve in its armed or auxiliary
forces. No pressure or propaganda which aims at securing voluntary
enlistment is permitted."
An 11 May 2022 analytical report (A/HRC/50/43
(https://documents-dds-ny.un.o
by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights notes that OHCHR has
documented that Russia has in the illegally-occupied Ukrainian territory of
Crimea seriously violated international human rights law by conscripting
over 3,000 men into the Russian armed forces.
Alternative civilian service "not applicable" under martial law
Following the renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing martial law
for 90 days. All men between the ages of 18 and 60 were deemed eligible for
call-up in a general mobilisation and were banned from leaving the country.
The period of martial law was extended several times and is currently due
to end on 19 February 2023.
The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement expressed concern that during martial law
the Defence Ministry might not respect individuals' right to perform an
alternative civilian service if they cannot serve in the armed forces on
grounds of conscience. It wrote to the Defence Ministry on 26 July 2022.
In its 21 August 2022 response
(https://en.connection-ev.org/
Forum 18, Colonel Oleg Khrystenko, Deputy Chief of the Main Personnel
Department of the General Staff, pointed out that under the Alternative
Service Law, men could opt for alternative service "if the performance of
military duty conflicts with their religious beliefs and these citizens
belong to religious organisations operating in accordance with the
legislation of Ukraine, whose creed does not allow the use of weapons".
However, Colonel Khrystenko insisted that because of the Russian invasion
and the declaration of martial law, regular conscription to military
service had been suspended, to be replaced by mobilisation. "Therefore,
based on the above, the implementation of the constitutional right of
citizens to undergo alternative (non‐military) service under the
conditions of the legal regime of martial law and during mobilisation, due
to the absence of conscription for term‐limited military service, is not
applicable."
Colonel Khrystenko added that the Mobilisation Training and Mobilisation
Law "does not provide for alternative (non‐military) service for
conscripts who are called up for military service during mobilisation".
Recruitment Office rejects alternative service request
Vitaly Vasilovich Alekseenko (born 2 December 1976) was living in Slovyansk
in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Region when Russia began its renewed invasion
of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2017 he was registered with the Ukrainian
Conscription Office in Slovyansk, but was given not a military card.
However, he was given a certificate valid until 2022 confirming that he had
not served in the military in the 1990s in Uzbekistan, where he then lived,
on grounds of conscience.
Alekseenko fled to Ivano-Frankivsk in May 2022. The City Recruitment Office
summoned him on 2 June. He told them that he could not take up arms because
of his religious beliefs as a Christian. "I told them I was ready to do an
alternative service and wrote such a declaration," he told Forum 18. He
also explained that he had refused military service in Uzbekistan on
grounds of conscience.
"They told me that there is no certainty that I'm a believer," Alekseenko
told Forum 18 on 15 December 2022. "They said that only members of
registered faiths have the right to do alternative service." He said he
believes in Jesus Christ and his command to resist evil without violence
and be peacemakers as outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. "But I don't go
to any church as they don't observe what Christ said."
The Recruitment Office summoned Alekseenko again on 6 June, telling him
they rejected his application for alternative service. When he refused to
be mobilised, officials called in the police.
Alekseenko explained that he was not afraid and chose not to flee or hide
from the authorities. "I'm not afraid, even of prison," he told Forum 18 in
December.
An official of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Recruitment Office, who refused to
give his name, said he was not familiar with Alekseenko's case. "We're not
competent to answer your questions," the official told Forum 18 on 17
January 2023. "We generally offer alternative service to members of
religious communities." The official refused to say how many men had been
able to opt for alternative civilian service since the February 2022
renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine.
When Forum 18 told the official that Alekseenko's objections to serving in
the military are based on his religious beliefs, the official replied: "Let
him come in to us a second time." Told that Alekseenko is about to start
his prison term after his appeal was rejected, the official repeated that
he was unfamiliar with the circumstances of his case.
When Forum 18 asked the official why Alekseenko could not have been
assigned an alternative civilian service in a needed occupation at a time
of war, say at a hospital, the official did not explain why.
Criminal case, trial, conviction, jail sentence
The investigator told Alekseenko a criminal case would be launched against
him under Article 336 of the Criminal Code. This punishes "Refusing call-up
for military service during mobilisation or in a special period, and for
military service during call-up of reservists in a special period".
Punishment is a jail term of three to five years.
On the investigator's advice, Alekseenko pleaded guilty, but refused to
repent of his actions "because he is convinced that he behaved decently as
a Christian, followed the imperative of his conscience and did nothing
wrong", the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement said in a 9 November 2022 letter to
the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
At his criminal trial at Ivano-Frankivsk City Court on 15 September 2022,
Judge Roman Khorostil found Alekseenko guilty under Criminal Code Article
336, according to the decision seen by Forum 18. It notes that Prosecutor
Olga Gazukina, who led the prosecution case in court, called for a
three-year suspended jail term.
However, Judge Khoristil ignored the Prosecutor's request and decided to
jail Alekseenko. He noted the pre-trial report that said that Alekseenko
did not represent a danger to society and reduced his sentence to a
one-year jail term. The verdict says that the term begins when Alekseenko
is actually detained.
Alekseenko appealed to Ivano-Frankivsk Appeal Court. After postponements
because of the lack of electricity, the appeal hearing finally took place
on 16 January 2023, according to court records. Volodymyr Povzlo was the
Presiding Judge, accompanied by fellow Judges Oleksandr Vasilev and Bogdan
Kukurudz. The hearing was open, Alekseenko told Forum 18, and friends
attended the hearing in his support.
"I told the court I agree that I have broken the law of Ukraine,"
Alekseenko told Forum 18, "but I am not guilty under the law of God. I want
to be honest to myself." He added that had he repented of his "crime", both
the lower and the appeal court would have given him a suspended sentence.
"How could I do that when I am not guilty?"
The appeal court rejected an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief from
Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement arguing that Alekseenko
should be acquitted. The Judges said that they know the law better,
Sheliazhenko noted.
One Judge asked Alekseenko how he could prove that killing people was
incompatible with his religious beliefs. He responded that if the court did
not believe him he would be unable to convince it. He again set out his
religious reasons for opposing military service. "Vitaliy's simpleness and
sincerity seemingly didn't impress the court," Sheliazhenko told Forum 18.
Presiding Judge Povzlo expressed displeasure that the court had received
messages from around the world in support of Alekseenko, Sheliazhenko told
Forum 18.
Forum 18 was unable to reach Prosecutor Gazukina on 17 January.
Alekseenko told Forum 18 he would lodge a further appeal against his
conviction and jailing. "I don't want anyone else to suffer this." However,
he said he was "reconciled" to his fate. "Prison is prison."
Cases no longer visible on public register of verdicts
The verdicts in all five known conscientious objector convictions no longer
appear on the public online register of court verdicts run by the State
Court Administration in Kyiv. Attempts to access them reach a page which
says "The page view is not available. Invalid or outdated link." Most, but
not all, of the verdicts in other cases from those courts and dates were
publicly available when Forum 18 looked on 17 January.
"The disappearance from the public register of [Alekseenko's lower court]
verdict and other verdicts where objectors were sentenced to prison with
replacement of incarceration with probation looks like an attempt to hide
the human rights violations from the public," Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian
Pacifist Movement told Forum 18 on 16 January.
In late morning of 17 January, Forum 18 asked the State Court
Administration in Kyiv why the verdicts in these five conscientious
objector cases are no longer visible on the public register. Forum 18 had
received no response by the end of the working day in Kyiv.
Severe human rights violations in Russian-occupied Ukraine
Serious violations of freedom of religion and belief and other human rights
take place within all the Ukrainian territory Russia has illegally occupied
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Within the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
imposition of Russian laws and restrictions on exercising human rights,
including freedom of religion or belief; jailing Muslim and Jehovah's
Witness Crimean prisoners of conscience; forcible closure of places of
worship; and fining people for leading meetings for worship without Russian
state permission.
Within the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk these have up to
the renewed 2022 invasion of Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
illegal all Protestant and non-Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox communities; a
climate of fear about discussing human rights violations; repeated denials
of permission to a Roman Catholic priest to live in the region; and
increasing numbers of banned allegedly "extremist" books, including an
edition of the Gospel of John published in 1820. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in
Russian-occupied Ukraine
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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