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On 5 January 2010 European Court of Human Rights passed a judgement in two analogous cases Frasik v. Republic of Poland (application no. 22933/02) and Jaremowicz v. Republic of Poland (no. 24023/03). The Court found that refusal to allowa prison inmate to marry breaches the Convention. Helisnki Foundation for Human Rights submitted in those cases amicus curiae brief.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about deteriorating press freedom conditions in Puntland, including detentions, censorship, harassment, and direct attacks by police officers. In recent months, media institutions and professionals in the region have come under fire on several occasions.

6 студзеня пачаўся новы этап праекта па назіранні за выбарамі. Цягам тыдня больш як сорак удзельнікаў з Беларусі, Літвы і Швецыі пройдуць інтэнсіўны тэарэтычны курс, прысвечаны азнаямленню з асновамі выбарчага працэсу і назірання.

Gennady Grushevoy (Henadz Hrushavy in Belarusian) and the Rafto foundation organised a festival, where young Belarusians met to discuss environmental issues, in Minsk, Republic of Belarus, October 2009. Henadz Hrushavy received the 1999 Rafto prize in recognition of his work for democracy and human rights in the Republic of Belarus.

Macedonian Women’s Rights Center – MWRC attended a seminar in the end of December, on topic ”Strategic Planning for Institutions/Organizations”. The seminar was organized by Sweden foundation Kvinna Till Kvinna in collaboration with CIRa (Center for Institutional Development).

Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, right, was attacked at his home outside Aarhus in the evening 1 January by a man of Somali origin. “This episode shows once again how fragile freedom of speech has become in our society and how important it is that we are stuck on the defense of the right to freely assert their voices”, says Norwegian PEN’s leader, Anders Heger.

On 25 December 2009 President Ilham Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan signed a decree to pardon 99 prisoners on the occasion of the 31 December – Solidarity Day of World Azerbaijanis and New Year.

Human Rights House Foundation has been co-operating with the human rights defenders and organizations in the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2003. During this period various projects were implemented in collaboration with partner organizations in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Seeing the effectiveness of this collaboration, as well as the need for the House, Human Rights House Foundation officially established its Branch in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2007. The House was officially launched on 25 April 2009, though. Below is the summary of the activities of the House since its launch.

English PEN is calling on all members to take action on behalf of Liu Xiaobo and others detained in the People´s Republic of China. Liu Xiaobo, former President and Board member of Independent Chinese PEN Centre, was sentenced to eleven years in prison on 25 December 2009.