Latest

Amnesty International launched “Report 2010: State of the World’s Human Rights”, which documents abuses in 159 countries. The organization said that powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient.

Article 19’s analysis of the Draft Code on Administrative Offences highlights the restrictive mass media regime in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Article 19 calls on the Government to ensure the Draft Code meets international freedom of expression standards.

On May 30, Georgian voters will elect 64 new municipal councils for a four-year term. The major focus of the local elections is made on contest in the capital city, Tbilisi, which will directly elect its mayor for the first time. National and international organizations are actively monitoring the pre-election situation in Georgia. During the last week of pre-election campaign, national and international organizations publish their reports on pre-election monitoring which highlights the main trends and violations during pre-election campaign.

United Centre of Initiatives for Republic of Belarus (JuBIC), Swedish International Liberal Centre (Silc), European Humanities University (EHU) and Belarusian Human Rights House in Vilnius (HRH) announce a new call for applications to participate in “Election Observation: Theory and Practice“ project in 2010. The first mission for new participants will take place in October in Bosnia and Herzegovina or Latvia.

On 27 May 2010 Amnesty International issued the annual report on human rights which dedicates the page to the description of the situation in Georgia. It says that none of the crimes committed during the war 2008 has been investigated appropriately and EUMM monitors do not have access to the Abkhazian and South Ossetian territory. The report concerns about the situation of IDPs as well. Despite the fact that they are accommodated, their social and economic rights are not ensured.

The European Union hopes to send a mission to Burma as part of a new approach to press the country’s ruling junta to adopt democracy. “There is a tendency towards a Dialogue,” said Jose Eugenio Salarich, a Spanish senior official responsible for relations with Asia and the Pacific.

Republic of Belarus inaugurated yet another ‘hunting season’ on pro-democracy activists. On 18 and 19 May police and KGB conducted mass searches in Minsk, Hrodna, Brest, Homel, and Mahiloŭ. Civic campaign Tell the Truth!, which in several months had managed to capture country’s attention with its original and offbeat actions, became a target of the authorities. Searches and arrests were also conducted else where and with other organisations.

The new chairperson of the Rafto Foundation’s Board of Directors is Anne Kloster Holst (43). She is an adviser at the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) in Bergen. The new chairperson expressed a strong desire to to help the Rafto Foundation continue its positive development.

Двухдневный семинар «Практика взаимодействия государственных и негосударственных правозащитных институтов в сфере продвижения европейских стандартов защиты прав человека на национальном уровне» проходил в Воронеже 20 и 21 мая.