Latest
In Focus: The Georgian government’s method of tackling the massive Displacement Problem of IDPs.
In January of 2011, the Georgian Ministry of Interior completed the eviction process of IDPs from temporary settlement locations in Tbilisi. The process reflects an effort to tackle a massive displacement problem as a result of the conflicts in the early 1990s in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Georgia-Russia war in 2008. So far around five thousand IDPs have been evicted from Tbilisi, most of them left without shelters and others resettled in the regions of Georgia.
Farmland grabbing – serious problem in Africa
Land grabbing was one of the main topics during the last World Social Forum in Dakar. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that in the last three years 20 million hectares have been acquired by foreign interests in Africa. The Eastern African Farmers Federation (EAFF) has cautioned that leasing farmland to multinationals could precipitate food crisis in the region. Foreigners are further acquiring farmland in Africa, however 43 of the 53 African countries do not produce enough food for their own population, FAO says.
Overcrowded Detention Settings in Georgia and Inadequate Minister
The mortality among prisoners increases. In 2006-2009, 371 people died in the penitentiary institutions. The report of the Public Defender of Georgia states that average age of dead prisoners is 45.
The case of Sergei Magnitsky’s death
In February 2011, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to the Polish government in reference to a case of Siergiei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in a Moscow detention facility as a result of having been held in conditions, which could be justifiably called torturous. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights appealed to impose appropriate visa and financial sanctions on Russian officials responsible for his death.
Rafto Prize: call for nominations
The Rafto Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2011 Rafto Prize for Human Rights. Every year since 1987, the Rafto Foundation has awarded the Rafto Prize to advocates of human rights and democracy.
Post-election crackdown on independent media continues in Belarus
Two months after the presidential elections in Belarus, independent media outlets and human right defenders are still facing unprecedented levels of repression and harassment and the numbers of prosecutions are on the increase. Three journalists are still held in detention. All those who have been prosecuted continue to face the possibility of long years of imprisonment.
MSF helps population trapped by conflict in eastern Congo
In North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, violent conflict persists between government forces and an array of military groups. The frontlines constantly shift, and local people are trapped in the middle – often cut off from medical care. In and around Pinga, an MSF team has been reaching out to populations trapped by the conflict by running mobile clinics via motorbike and providing medical services to people who have no other hope of getting medical care.
Абсурд: у адвакатаў забралі ліцэнзію, бо яны паддаліся на ціск КДБ (абноўлена)
У Беларусі рэпрэсуюць адвакатаў палітвязняў. Ліцэнзіі скасавалі чатыром юрыстам; фармальная прычына – за адмову абараняць кліентаў. Адвакаты насамрэч былі вымушаныя адмовіць палітвязням у паслугах, бо іх прымусіла КДБ, пагражаючы адняць ліцэнзію. Абуральныя факты ціску на беларускую адвакатуру – у звароце праваабаронцаў да адпаведнага спецдакладчыка ААН.
Croatia: ongoing impunity for war crimes
Amnesty International (AI) is concerned about the ongoing impunity for war crimes in Croatia and calls on authorities to investigate and prosecute all cases committed during the 1991-1995 war in Croatia. Witnesses, who could provide necessary evidence through their testimonies, are reluctant to do so due to ongoing threats and intimidation against them. The victims and their relatives are left without access to justice and reparation.