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On 15 July the HFHR intervened with the President of FIBA Europe, the European branch of the Federation of International Basketball Associations, regarding the incident that occurred during the European Women’s Basketball Championship held in Poland in June. A detailed account of the incident can be found in the article ‘A Polish scandal with a Belarusian flag’ published in the Rzeczpospolita daily.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published a report on Poland. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights arranged a press conference devoted to the findings of the report. The report describes the situation in Polish prisons and detention centres as observed during the CPT representatives’ visit to Poland in November and December 2009.

The Rafto Alumni has been created for the first time and in November 2011 a get-together will be taking place in Bergen when Rafto Foundation celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Rafto Prize. The Rafto Alumni will comprise of former members of the Rafto student group. The idea of a new initiative is to give former members a place to meet.

“Як дзіўна ўсё ўпарадкавана. Мы пішам пра ўсякае важнае: пра крэдыт МВФ, пра рост коштаў, пра <...> Паўднёвы Судан. А ў Наваполацкай калоніі ў гэты час спакойна, метадычна фактычна забіваюць хлопца,” – у эсэ “Катаванне” піша аглядальніца Святлана Калінкіна пра наймаладзейшага палітвязня Беларусі. Падаем эсэ цалкам.

The Belarusian general prosecutor, Grigory Vasilevich, has stood up for journalists and defended their right to report on ongoing political protests. According to a 15 July statement issued by his press office, Vasilevich sent a letter to Interior Minister Anatoly Kuleshov reminding his colleague of journalists’ rights under the law. Last week Belarusian Authorities also dropped lawsuits aimed at closing two independent newspapers in country.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have detained at least six people following the appearance of leaflets in Aksu city calling for independence from Beijing on July 1, as the ruling Communist Party marked its 90th anniversary. Radio Free Asia reports that Uyghur students studying in eastern China are expelled for practicing their religion. The relatives of Uyghur political prisoners complain they too are living out a sentence.

Article 19 commends the current version of the Decree regarding access to the administrative documents held or produced by Tunisian public authorities and urges the Interim Government to accomplish it in a period of six month. Adoption of the Decree is an important milestone in process of democratic transition in Tunisia through building a culture of transparency, protecting the right to know and strengthening accountability.

Iran continues to crack down on brave people struggling with propaganda and fighting for human rights in the country. On 15 July international nongovernmental organisations Index on Censorship, Article 19, Committee to Protect Journalists and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression expressed their concern to Iranian authorities about the recent wave of arrests of journalists and film makers in Iran and ask them to immediately release all unjustly detained.

Some 1,300 refugees are crossing into Kenya daily from Somalia, fleeing conflict and the region’s worst drought in 60 years. New refugee camps are rapidly needed. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has found alarmingly high rates of malnutrition among the Somali refugees arriving and settling on the outskirts of the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya. The findings have prompted MSF to reinforce its medical intervention there.