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At the occasion of the presentation by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues of her report on Ukraine, the Human Rights Council discussed the situation of minorities in Ukraine, especially in regard to the developments in Crimea since February 2014.

Use of unregistered grants has been at the core of the charges against human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev. In court the defence provided rebuttal of prosecutors’ version.

“The referendum in Crimea was just a clown show, it had nothing to do with democracy and this should not be forgotten”, argues Refat Chubarov, Head of the Mejilis of the Crimean Tatar People, at a side-event on the margins of the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

In a joint statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council, leading international human rights organisations call upon Azerbaijan “to put an end to the systematic punishment of leaders of civil society, and to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, journalists and activists held in custody.”

The Baku Court on Grave Crimes has been discussing the cases of the arrested human rights defenders for two months already. On March 10, the Court continued discussion into the case of Intigam Aliyev, Azerbaijan human rights defender, who was arrested on August 8, 2014. The main part of the hearing was spent on the discussion of solicitations from the defense side. Interrogation of the witness caused conflict in the courtroom for what the judge postponed the process.

The deportation of Elena Tonkacheva demonstrates “the immense challenges that continue to exist for human rights defenders to fulfill their work in Belarus.” This was stated on 6 March, by Miklós Haraszti, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, at the UN Human Rights Council.

Высылка Алены Танкачовай дэманструе “тыя велізарныя выклікі, якія перашкаджаюць праваабаронцам працаваць у Беларусі”. 6 сакавіка пра гэта заявіў спецдакладчык па Беларусі Савета па правах чалавека ААН Міклаш Харашці (на фота).

Baku Court continued substantial hearing of Rasul Jafarov’s case, famous Azerbaijan human rights defender. The regular trial into his case was held on March 5. The more people are questioned about the accusation imposed by the prosecutor’s office on him, the more questions emerge.

In its statement on the situation of human rights defenders on 10 March 2015 at the Human Rights Council, the Human Rights House Foundation highlighted the worrying situations in Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia.