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Minsk city court announced its verdict on the case against Alexander Zdzvizhkou, former deputy editor-in-chief of Zhoda newspaper. He was found guilty of violation of article 130 part 2 of the Criminal Code “inciting religious enmity” for reprinting caricatures of Prophet Mohammed. Zdzvizhkou was sentenced to three years´ imprisonment in a medium security prison. (18-JAN-08)
 

Well-known Russian human rights defenders adressed to Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman in the Russian Federation, and Ella Pamfilova, Chairwoman of the Civil Society Institution and Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, with an appeal to express their protest on the fact of prosecutors of Nazran (Ingushetiya) had opened a criminal investigation into the NGO “Voice of Beslan” on charge of extremism. (16-JAN-08)
 

On Friday 11 January activists from Amnesty International in Oslo lit candles opposite the American Embassy. With posters stating that “6 years are enough – close Guantanamo!” they marked the 6th anniversary of the opening of the camp. (14-JAN-08)
 

-Kenya has been hailed as a beacon of hope for Africa´s democratic transition, writes the 23 IFEX member organisations. -We the undersigned organisations engaged in promoting freedom of expression in the world are concerned about the sad turn of events in your country.

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) is disturbed by news of jamming of Deutsche Welle (DW) Amharic language broadcasts by Government authorities in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Also affected by this problem is the Voice of America´s Amharic and Oromifa language broadcast. (16-JAN-08)
 

Well-known Russian human rights defenders have appealed to the Ombudsman in the Russian Federation, and the Chairwoman of the Civil Society Institution and Human Rights Council of the Russian Federation, protesting the opening of criminal investigations into the NGO “Voice of Beslan” on charges of extremism. (16-JAN-08) 
 

The conflict between Western Sahara´s independence movement Polisario and Morocco has reached its most critical point since the ceasefire in 1991, writes Tom Varghese (right), former leader of the Rafto Foundation´s student group. Rising tensions, a deteriorating humanitarian situation and a diplomatic deadlock are nurturing a steadily growing fraction within Polisario, pressuring the current leadership to return to arms (14-JAN-08).

For 17 years the people of Western Sahara have waited for a solution to the territorial conflict with Morocco. The promise to give the Sahrawies a possibility to decide over their future through a referendum has not been kept. Polisario, Western Sahara´s independence movement, is considering leaving the negotiation table and returning to war (14-JAN-08).

Two out of three employers in the Republic of Poland check their subordinates’ e-mail correspondence and monitor their computers. It often occurs that employers check their employees’ sobriety each day using a breathalyzer, and not only when circumstances indicate such a necessity. At the same time, very few of them inform employees about the methods of monitoring their work.(14-JAN-08)