Quakers in Vlaanderen

10/04/2026

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.

29/03/2026

SOLIDARITEIT met Yurii Sheliazhenko!

EBCO mission to Kyiv, Ukraine, for Yurii Sheliazhenko , EBCO Board Member and Secretary of the Український Рух Пацифістів. The message of our member organisations all around Europe is clear and strong, and we express it in all our languages: we stand in SOLIDARITY with Yurii ☮️
Please read our recent joint statement condemning arbitrary detention and ongoing threats against conscientious objector Yurii Sheliazhenko: https://ebco-beoc.org/press-release/2026-03-24-joint-statement-arbitrary-detention-yurii-sheliazhenko

25/03/2026

📣Take action to support Yurii Sheliazhenko and all conscientious objectors currently persecuted and criminalized.
📣Setzen Sie sich für Yurii Sheliazhenko und alle Kriegsdienstverweigerer ein, die derzeit verfolgt und kriminalisiert werden.
Read more here: https://en.connection-ev.org/article-4703
🔎 Read the latest on Yurii Sheliazhenko incident which could amount to torture: https://en.connection-ev.org/article-4705

In collaboration with War Resisters' International, EBCO - European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, IPB - International Peace Bureau . . .

24/03/2026

21/03/2026

EBCO brief update: Good news! 🎊 Yurii is currently free but still under threat. We are in contact with him to support him in the next steps. We continue our solidarity with Yurii and all the conscientious objectors. Thanks everyone for the great wave of solidarity. 🙏Peace. ☮️ We will keep you updated.

Read our recent joint statement here: https://ebco-beoc.org/press-release/2026-03-19-urgent-detention-of-yurii-sheliazhenko-by-ukrainian-police-military

21/03/2026

Yurii Sheliazhenko has been formally charged by the Ukrainian government with the crime of justifying Russian aggression. The evidence is this statement which explicitly condemns Russian aggression. About Yurii. Please sign the petition below.

20/03/2026

Wij zijn solidair met Yurii Shelizhenko. Het in internationale verdragen vastgelegde recht om op basis van gewetensbezwaar te mogen weigeren om andere mensen te doden moet ook in oorlogssituaties erkend worden. We roepen de Oekraiense autoriteiten op om dit recht te erkennen en Yurii onmiddellijk vrij te laten.

URGENT statement about the unlawful detention and deprivation of liberty of Yurii Sheliazhenko by the Ukrainian police and military authorities

Connection e.V. , International Fellowship of Reconciliation - IFOR , EBCO - European Bureau for Conscientious Objection , and War Resisters' International - WRI

The undersigned organisations are shocked by the detention and deprivation of liberty of human rights defender Yurii Sheliazhenko, today March 19th, by the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv. This is just weeks after a joint call to the authorities to withdraw from such persecutions of conscientious objectors and withdraw their ongoing persecution of Mr. Sheliazhenko.

https://ebco-beoc.org/press-release/2026-03-19-urgent-detention-of-yurii-sheliazhenko-by-ukrainian-police-military

23/01/2026

Steun Yurii Sheliazhenko!

24/12/2025

🔸 With great concern we share a message from the secretary of the Ukrainian pacifist movement, Yurii Sheliazhenko:
"[...] after the antiwar ministry “Lion and Calf” that had place on Sunday, 14 December, the Commander of the Pechersk District Territorial Conscription Center in Kyiv City, Colonel Serhii Kalugin at the same day, despite the weekend, sent a military registration order to report on Christmas Eve, 24 December, for the purpose of illegally forcing Yurii Sheliazhenko to change his pacifist and Quaker beliefs in violation of Article 18 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [...] In response, a statement of conscientious objection was sent, as well as a complaint to Ombudsman Lubinets asking him to ensure introduction of an alternative non-military registration instead of compulsory military registration for conscientious objectors whose religion or beliefs do not allow to use weapons or become soldiers of mass murder (war), so that the unlawful coercion of believers to change their religion will cease. [...]"

17/12/2025

Deze pagina is van naam veranderd. Omdat we sinds enige tijd ook stille samenkomsten in Antwerpen organiseren was de benaming 'Quakers Gent' niet meer zo passend, vandaar deze wijziging. We zijn uiteraard wel (ook) nog altijd in Gent actief, voor alle duidelijkheid!

15/12/2025

De rol van religie in actuele conflicten: Israël-Palestina

28/11/2025

Paul Blondeel, actief bij onze groep, schreef een brief aan minister Gennez ter ondersteuning van de vredesorganisaties Vrede vzw en Vredesactie die op oneigenlijke gronden worden gekort op hun subsidies. Sluit je aan bij dit protest en stuur deze brief ook aan de minister!

Sympathisanten van Vrede vzw en Vredesactie schreven een open brief naar de minister van Cultuur Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) die de subsidie van beide middenveldorganisaties voor een groot deel schrapt. "Welke ‘heilige eenheid’ moet er hier bewaard worden? Ten koste van wat?"