Latest

Committee to Project Journalists newly updated its Impunity Index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. According to the list deadly, unpunished violence against the press has soared in the Philippines and Republic of Somalia. Impunity in journalist murders also rose significantly in the Russian Federation and Mexico, two countries with long records of entrenched, anti-press violence.

Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, the keynote speaker at 2010 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards, has reportedly been subject to threats by Iranian officials. Human rights organizations have condemned the Iranian authorities’ move.

Three-day forum of NGOs from BiH, Balkan and EU took place in Sarajevo from Apil 14-16 2010. It was organized by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in BiH, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, Centre Andre Malraux Sarajevo and CCFD Terre solidaire from France.

A group of Croatian NGOs, including the organisations at the Human Rights House of Zagreb, has issued a press release regarding the recent police action towards Marko Rakar, right, Croatian blogger and columnist, calling state officials to respect international standards of citizens’ rights of access to information.

Nineteen non-governmental organizations for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Republic of Croatia, gathered in an ad hoc coalition, and made the UPR report on the current situation and level of respect of the human rights in this country.

In a letter sent on 14 April 2010 to the President of the Republic of Belarus, Mr Alexander Lukashenko and Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, together with 50 other organisations, condemns the execution of Mr. Andrei Zhuk and Mr. Vasily Yuzepchuk.

“How much do children and young people know about the violence” is the research conducted by CURE Foundation in Feb/March 2010, on a sample of 310 young men and women from nine different cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, Ilidza, Kiseljak, Banja Luka, Konjic, Zenica, Travnik, Doboj and Jablanica).

On 14 April members of the Human Rights House Network and several other international human rights organisations sent a letter of concern on the executions of two Belarusian citizens – Andrei Zhuk and Vasil Yuzepchuk. Signatories condemned that the fact of execution as well as deplored Republic of Belarus ignoring its international obligations in human rights. The letter was sent to two highest public officials in the country – president and prime-minister.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities in the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) to immediately release journalist Ernest Vardanian, who has been jailed in the regional capital of Tiraspol for treason since April 7.