Latest

Police on Saturday released 22 civil society activists, including two elderly women, who were arrested on Christmas eve for alleged illegal assembly. The group led by Okiya Okoiti Omtatah was arrested along Aga Khan Walk as they prepared to march to the Prime Minister’s office at the Treasury and later to the Education ministry headquarters at Jogoo House to protest the theft of money at the ministry.

З 23 па 25 снежня ў беларускім Доме правоў чалавека праходзіць праваабарончая канферэнцыя па тэме «Магчымасці прэвентыўнай абароны правоў. Удзельнікі мерапрыемства – прадстаўнікі розных праваабароннчых арганізацый з Беларусі, Літвы, Украіны, Расіі.

On December 15 2009 the office of the Inclusive Foundation, a well known Georgian LGBT organisation, was raided by the police. They did not wear police uniforms, did not provide a search warrant, did not inform about their identity or agency they represented and did not explain the purpose of their intrusion.

The letter by international human rights NGOs is aiming to press the Belarusian authorities to provide official registration to the party of Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD) and stop the persecution of its members. The HR defenders also urge to abolish the repressive Article 193.1 of Belarusian Criminal Code.
Find the text of the letter below.

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the release of the three lawyers Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar. According to the information received, on December 8, 2009, at 6:30 pm, Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar were released from custody by the National Intelligence Security Service of Republic of the Sudan (NISS).

Зварот-заклік, прыняты міжнароднымі праваабарончымі арганізацыямі, мае на мэце аказанне ціску на беларускія ўлады ў справе рэгістрацыі партыі “Беларуская хрысціянская дэмакратыя” (БХД), а таксама спынення пераследу яе сябраў. Праваабаронцы апелююць і да скасавання артыкула 193.1 Крымінальнага Кодэкса Беларусі. Ніжэй прыводзіцца тэкст зварота.

Ahmad Zeid-Abadi, an Iranian journalist and political analyst who was
imprisoned following Iran’s disputed presidential election in June, has
been awarded the 2010 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize
of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

Civilians attacked, bombed, and cut off from aid in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Somalia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the DR of Congo, along with stagnant funding for treating HIV/AIDS and ongoing neglect of other diseases, were among the worst emergencies in 2009, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported in its annual list of the “Top Ten” humanitarian crises.

The people of Burma are used to suffering. Yet the regime is not without money. It siphons billions of dollars earned from natural energy resources into offshore accounts while its citizens are forced to seek health care in neighbouring countries. Investigative story by Phil Thornton.