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Some 30 members of the Burmese diaspora in Norway, joined by a contingency of Norwegian Burma activists, listened to appeals, sang and laid down yellow roses of hope at Suu Kyi´s portrait today, as part of a ceremony that appropriately took place at the Camilla Collett monument, right, in the Royal Castle Park in the heart of Oslo. 19 June is also Burmese heroines´ day. (19-JUNE-08)
 

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), releases its 2007 Annual Report today. The report focuses on the year-round fight for human rights and includes contributions from Hina Jilani, right, Desmond Tutu, Barbara Hendricks, José Ramos Horta, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Wei Jingsheng. (19-JUNE-08)
 

Index on Censorship magazine was awarded the Amnesty International Media Award for best periodical at a ceremony in London last night. The award was given for a series of articles from the issue “How Free is the Russian Media?”; The magazine was praised for its “brave, impassioned journalism”.

Two employees of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s office in Bishkek, Elena Mamadnazarova and Ivar Dale, right, were questioned at the Ministry of Interior (MVD) for six hours yesterday. The two were questioned about the activities of the office, about their legal grounds of residence in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the registration of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s (NHC) office. By the end of the questioning, NHC reached an agreement with the MVD. (18-JUNE-08)
 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, right, congratulated today the Human Rights Council on its adoption of an important new human rights instrument to strengthen the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. “This is a highly significant achievement”, she said. (18-JUNE-08) 
 

Two employees of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s office in Bishkek, Elena Mamadnazarova and Ivar Dale, right, were questioned at the Ministry of Interior (MVD) for six hours yesterday. The two were questioned about the activities of the office, about their legal grounds of residence in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the registration of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee´s (NHC) office. By the end of the questioning, NHC reached an agreement with the MVD. (18-JUNE-08)
 

On 14 June, Emin Huseynov (right), the chairman of IRFS, was subjected to police brutality, after which he was detained during a police raid of an event being held at the “Alaturka-Cafe”, dedicated to 80th birthday of Ernesto Che Guvera. (17-JUN-08)
    

Index on Censorship magazine was awarded the Amnesty International Media Award for best periodical at a ceremony in London. The award was given for a series of articles from the issue ‘How Free is the Russian Media?’.  The magazine was praised for its ´brave, impassioned journalism´. (17-JUNE-08) 

The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) is seriously concerned about the alleged threats and beating by Azeri police last Saturday of Emin Huseynov, right, a well-known human rights defender. The gross violations followed in the wake of the police´s breaking up of a marking of Che Guevara´s 80th birthday in the Alaturka Cafe in Baku. (16-JUNE-08)