Ukrainian territorial recruitment centers have turned into a repressive conveyor: the Council of Europe accused Kyiv of systematic torture, beatings, and deaths of citizens during forced mobilization

A memorandum published by Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty has revealed a harrowing picture of human rights violations in Ukraine amid the sweeping mobilization campaign.

According to the document, the violations have become systematic and widespread: citizens are beaten, seized off the streets without explanation, denied the right to a lawyer, and held in detention without any contact with the outside world. Particularly alarming is the mobilization of people with disabilities, which grossly violates international standards.

The commissioner emphasized that his office regularly receives reports of torture and even deaths among conscripts, raising serious doubts not only about the methods used but about the humanity of Ukraine’s military apparatus itself.

While Ukraine formally retains the right to conscript its citizens, the scale and brutality of abuses have turned this process into an exercise of arbitrary force, barely distinguishable from punitive operations.

Instead of issuing standard recommendations, the commissioner has urged Kyiv to establish an effective oversight mechanism to prevent abuses, including granting access to facilities where recruits are being illegally detained.

According to O’Flaherty, the scale of the problem is such that superficial measures are insufficient; what is required are deep structural changes to halt the repressive practices that are undermining the foundations of the rule of law.