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Two employees of the Nakhchivan-based “Democracy and NGO Development Resource Center” were attacked and seriously beaten by an orchestrated group of athletic mobsters on 15 December.

Two employees of the Nakhchivan-based “Democracy and NGO Development Resource Center” were attacked and seriously beaten by an orchestrated group of athletic mobsters on 15 December.

Norwegian PEN, member of the Human Rights House in Oslo and the Norwegian chapter of International PEN that represents over 15,000 writers around the world, has released a statement in which it articulates its sorrow concerning the violent and tragic developments in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

With the collapse of the Soviet system at the end of 1991, journalists felt freer to speak and act according to their conscience. That is a long time ago now. According to the findings of the Press Emblem Campaign, the Russian Federation is now a dangerous country to report from. The 2008 statistics illustrate the fact: four media workers were killed, and many more suffered attacks, including beatings, threats and other kinds of harassment.

Centre for peace studies writes an open letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Croatia regarding violation of the resolution 1830 of Security Council on the situation in Middle-East.

The South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders’ will link watch-dog human rights NGOs in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan and Georgia) and provide assistance to those human rights defenders who face challenges in their work.

The Chechen refugee Umar Israilov was killed by gunshots to his head on January 13 as he walked out of a store. One of the four perpetrators was held at the scene. According to Austrian newspapers, he is also of Chechen origin. Israilov was a Chechen fighter who in 2003 was held for three months in Ramzan Kadyrov’s secret prisons and enlisted as Kadyrov’s security guard.

The countries of the former Yugoslavia are being hit especially hard by the dispute over gas between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Above all, residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are having to wrap up warm: both countries are running short of gas supplies. Many homes in Sarajevo are still cold and electric heaters have sold out.

The incoming Obama administration will need to put human rights at the heart of foreign, domestic, and security policy if it is to undo the enormous damage of the Bush years, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing its World Report 2009.