The 2nd session of the 4th International Advanced Course on Human Rights, organized by Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, was completed on 10 December. 48 people from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States participated in the course.

Following a test intended to check the level of mastering the material from the course’s first session, the participants took part in classes concerning, inter alia such topics as: the right to life, freedom from torture, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech and the right to privacy, as well as participated in a simulation of the procedure for filing and considering a complaint to the international organs for human rights protection. The session ended with a sum-up lecture entitled “Human rights yesterday, today and tomorrow”. The course’s third session, consisting in practical activities, will take place in the Ukraine in the period of 4 – 13 February 2006.

The International Advanced Course on Human Rights is an in-depth course for activists from organisations working in support of human rights, other watch-dog organisations, as well as for young scientists and social leaders from CIS countries, who have completed the HFHR Summer or Winter School on Human Rights or any other international course, which provided solid, fundamental knowledge about human rights. The course is organized by Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights from 2002 and till now 111 people have graduated from it.