Latest

Hawlati, an independent Kurdish newspaper, recently published articles debating the practice of female circumcision, often referred to as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), in Iraqi-Kurdistan. FGM is a major problem in most of Islamic societies, and the practice has a tremendous cost—many girls bleed to death or die of infection.

Ivar Dale, right, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s representative in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, was refused entry to the country when he returned there on Sunday after having attended a seminar in Norway. Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General of the NHC, believes the series of harassments the organisation has been subjected to is politically motivated.

In the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, an unidentified gunman assassinated Diyar Abbas Ahmed, a twenty-eight-year-old Kurdish journalist, yesterday. Abbas Ahmed worked for Iraq Eye Media and several other media stations, including a television station sponsored by a Kurdish political party. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that violence against ethnic minorities, journalists and human rights defenders is escalating in the area.

Belarusian human rights defenders presented their conclusions on the 2008 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Belarus to the Lithuanian media during a press conference organized by the HRH Vilnius on 3 October 2008.

Three men are facing trial for the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but the investigation is far from over. Index on Censorship reports

Margaret Ssekaggya, the chairperson of the Republic of Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), said, “10 years since the inception of UHRC, steady progress has been achieved in fulfillment of the body’s mandate. People have been empowered. Government has been held to account and the commission has progressed well in holding all those responsible to account.” she said this during a networking dinner held to celebrate the ten years under the theme, “a decade of human rights Work; Making human Rights a Reality for All.”

On 28 September 2008 Belarusians elected members of the House of Representatives. These elections were internationally expected to bring further positive changes on the country´s political arena, but unfortunately the elections fell short of OSCE’s standards. National observers stated numerous violations of international standards. However EU still wants a dialogue with official Minsk (01-OCT-08).  
 

In 2008, the number of attacks owing to national intolerance in the Russian Federation declined. Deputy Director of the Information-Analytical Center “SOVA” Galina Kozhevnikova said it with reference to the monitoring data of the Center. 71 people were killed and 268 were injured as a result of racist attacks this year in the Russian Federation. (30-SEN-08)
 

On 28 September 2008 Belarusians elected members of the House of Representatives. These elections were internationally expected to bring further positive changes on the country´s political arena, but unfortunately the elections fell short of OSCE’s standards. National observers stated numerous violations of international standards. However EU still wants a dialogue with official Minsk (01-OCT-08).