Project-coordinator Lene Wetteland and recently appointed program manager of NHC Almaty office Parvina Abduvakhobova are at the conference and will present several NHC interventions.

Troubles with freedom of religion
The NHC has recently given particular attention to the human rights situation in Central Asia, and this region will also be in the focus of several of its interventions in Warsaw. One of the interventions is going to be related to Freedom of religion or belief in Central Asia.

According to NHC, threats to freedom of religion or belief exist in many OSCE participating states. During 2009 and 2010, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, in partnership with other Norwegian organizations, documented such threats in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

NHC found that, in Kazakhstan, serious violations include: attacks on religious freedom by officials ranging from President Nursultan Nazarbaev down to local officials; literature censorship; state-sponsored encouragement of religious intolerance; legal restrictions on freedom of religion or belief; raids, interrogations, threats and fines affecting both registered and unregistered religious communities and individuals; unfair trials; the jailing of a few particularly disfavored religious believers; restrictions on the social and charitable work of religious communities; close police and KNB secret police surveillance of religious communities; and attempts to deprive religious communities of their property.

These practices stand in stark contrast to Kazakhstan’s portraying itself as a multi-religious, multi-ethnic tolerant society and state, “an oasis of religious accord”. Indeed, there is a tradition of tolerance in Kazakhstan, but it does not seem to include non-traditional religious groups, such as independent Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims, most Protestants, Hare Krishna and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Such groups are dubbed ‘sects’ or worse.

HR activists unsafe in Central Asia
The other intervention, initiated by NHC’s partner International partnership for Human Rights and supported by seven NGOs, raises serious concern for human rights defenders in central Asia.

According to NHC, the activists stand up to injustice and abuse, human rights defenders working in these countries are intimidated and threatened, publicly condemned, sued for defamation, prosecuted on politically motivated charges, imprisoned after unfair trials, tortured and ill-treated, and forced to flee their countries. Their relatives and acquaintances are also singled out for harassment.

Human rights defenders who investigate human rights violations perpetrated in connection with the recent inter-ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan are working in a climate of insecurity and lack of protection.

Despite the concerns expressed by major international actors, and the special responsibility that the OSCE chairmanship entails with respect to human dimension commitments, the government of Kazakhstan continues to hold in prison one of the country’s most well-known human rights defenders – Yevgeni Zhovtis.

In spite of some minor reforms initiated by the current government of Turkmenistan, the political environment of this country remains essentially repressive and opportunities for civic engagement are extremely limited. Independent civil society groups cannot operate openly and individuals who are courageous enough to participate in human rights related activities are under surveillance by national security services and risk being subjected to intimidation, interrogation, prohibition on traveling abroad and other punitive measures.

In Tajikistan, it remains of concern that legal provisions on libel and defamation are implemented so as to restrict the exercise of the right to freedom of expression on issues such as corruption and human rights violations. Criminal Code articles prohibiting defamation and insult continue to be used to prosecute journalists who publish articles critical of public authorities, thus suppressing public discussion.

The authorities of Uzbekistan continue to stifle the activities of independent human rights defenders. Only two human rights organizations have been officially registered, and one of them – Ezgulik (“Goodness”) – recently reported being subjected to increasing pressure.

Elections in Azerbaijan and Belarus
NHC will also have an intervention related to the upcoming elections and the importance of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan and Belarus.

Two OSCE largely undemocratic participating states will hold elections this fall. The republic of Azerbaijan holds parliamentary elections on November 7, 2010. Belarus has announced presidential elections on December 19, 2010. NHC is concerned that the forthcoming elections will fail to meet international standards for free and fair elections.

In Azerbaijan, journalists who express critical opinions often become targets for persecution by the authorities. The attacks against journalists take place as the republic of Belarus is preparing for presidential elections on 19 December 2010. NHC fears that death of Aleh Byabenin (above), the founder and head of the renowned Belarusian website http://www.charter97.org/, and the subsequent death threats against his friends and colleagues are aimed at intimidating the media in particular during the election period.

Focus on Kyrgyzstan
In addition, a Side Event will be organised to present and discuss some of the findings of the research made by NHC and HRC Memorial as well as local NGOs during the crisis in Kyrgyzstan in June and July 2010. The side event is organised by HRC Memorial and Freedom House. NHC advisor Ivar Dale has written a summary of findings for the side event. Read the summary here.

Review conference
The Review conference replaces this year the annual OSCE Human Dimensions Implementation meeting. This is the first part of a three-part review conference ahead of the OSCE Summit to be held in Astana on 1-2 December 2010. The second and third parts of the review conference will be held in Vienna from 18-26 October and in Astana from 26-28 November.

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is a non-governmental (NGO), non-profit organisation which monitors compliance with the human rights provisions of the OSCE within all OSCE signatory states and supports initiatives to strengthen democracy and civil society. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee was founded in 1977.

Find out more about event, participants and agenda here.

HRH Oslo, based on Norwegian Helsinki Committee information.

Related links:

Kazakhstani HR defender receives the 2010 Sakharov Award

New NHC report: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have to implement their OSCE commitments

NHC Monitoring in Kyrgyzstan concerned with ongoing human rights violations

Kyrgyzstan: HR reporter gets life sentence, journalist remains detained

Kyrgyzstan: two killed, about twenty wounded in special operation in Osh Province

Kyrgyzstan: International support necessary to restore order, provide humanitarian aid and democracy

Azerbaijan: freedom of expression situation has deteriorated over the past five years

Belarus: suspicious ‘suicide’ of human rights activist and Charter97 founder