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In March a public hearing on the alleged existence of CIA prisons in Europe was held before the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. The hearing was attended by representatives of non-governmental organisations, including the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Amnesty International and Reprieve.

In March 2012, the International Detention Coalition, supported by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, launched an international campaign to abolish the placement of foreign children in guarded facilities. The IDC launched its policy document on a new model of immigration detention, which protects the rights and liberties of children of asylum seekers and irregular migrants.

Political prisoner Siarhei Kavalenka, who has been on a hunger strike since 20 December 2011, is being force-fed. He has recently been transferred from Minsk prison to a psychiatric hospital of Vitsba-3 colony not far from his hometown Vitsebsk. Human rights defenders call upon the Belarusian authorities to stop the political persecution of Siarhei Kavalenka.

Lately, opposition representatives have spoken about the training of paramilitary groups in western Georgia, particularly in the Samegrelo region. They have noted that the government is training a special contingent to be used to disperse possible protest demonstrations.

On 15 March the European Parliament adopted a resolution that was highly critical of the latest developments in Kazakhstan and expressed deep concern with the human rights situation. In addition to that, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) sent a statement to the European Parliament jointly with the International Partnership for Human Rights in Brussels and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee in the Hague, in an appeal to use the new cooperation agreement to push for follow-through on Kazakhstan’s human rights promises.

Invisible Children, a charity organization based in San Diego, launched an internet campaign to bring accused Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony to justice. Invisible Children posted a half-hour film about the rebel leader online, hoping to spark international action. The film about the abuse of children in Africa has been watched more than 50 million times on the internet within four days of its release, and almost six million people, including US celebrities George Clooney, Rihanna and others, have tweeted about the campaign using #StopKony.

1 красавіка стала вядома, што галадоўніка Сяргея Каваленку пачалі прымусова карміць “Беллактам”, малочнай сумессю для немаўлят. Яго стан па-ранейшаму благі, турэмным лекарам ён не давярае і самастойна есці адмаўляецца.

The research and information centre Memorial from Russia won the 2012 Index on Censorship Award. Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov won the journalism award, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights accepted the Advocacy Award, Freedom Fone by Kubatana won the Innovation Award, Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat accepted the Arts Award.

In March the Supreme Court dismissed a cassation complaint filed by the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office in Białystok. This marked the end of a four-year long trial against Dariusz Basałaj, a prison guard working at the Detention Centre in Białystok. In 2009 Mr Basałaj was charged with contributing to the death of one of the inmates. The facts of the case go back to April 2008 when Andrzej Ł., a state witness, hanged himself in the in-cell sanitary annex of one of cells in the detention centre in Białystok.