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Morocco believes it has the diplomatic clout to settle Africa´s oldest territorial dispute on its terms, confident it can rely on the goodwill it has earned overseas for its pro-democracy reforms at home. But the kingdom has no easy task in pursuing its plan to grant autonomy to Western Sahara, a mineral-rich land it annexed in 1975 and where Rabat´s control is contested by independence movement Polisario. (29-MAR-07)
 

The Norwegian Council for the rights of the Kurds (RKR) has issued a statement to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs within the Norwegian Parliament, expressing deep concern about the health of Kurd leader Abdullah Öcalan, right. Hair samples smuggled out of prison show dramatically high levels of chromium and strontium. (29-MAR-07)
 

On March 27th, well-known human rights activists sent an open statement to RF Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and Chairperson of the President Council for Development of Civil Society Ella Pamfilova. Human rights activists appeal for urgent uniting of forces against violations of civil rights. (29-MAR-07)
 

On Friday, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) published the English version of the annual report of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. (29-MAR-07)  Annual Report Press Kit
 

25 March is the Freedom Day for the democratic part of Belarusian society. This year more then 10000 people went into the Minsk streets for the peaceful demonstration. About 100 of them were detained before and during the action. The most horrified thing was that for the first time since Soviet time Republic of Belarus has met the case of punitive psychotherapy. (27-MAR-07)

The first issue this year of Tema Kurdistan, the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds (RKR) is out, entitled ´Al Anfal – a forgotten genocide?´ Per Thorsdalen, right, has taken over from Liv Kjølseth as editor and explains that this issue is RKR´s contribution to a more wide-reaching debate on the Al Anfal campaigns and the legal dispute as to whether or not this qualifies as genocide. To read the whole issue, click here . (28-MAR-07)
 

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), a federation of 46 independent human rights organizations, today released its “Annual Report” on human rights developments in the participating states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the year 2006. The report is entitled Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2007 (Events of 2006). (27-MAR-07)
 

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s annual board meeting requests of Norwegian authorities to increase the emphasis on democracy and human rights in the Russian part of the Barents region. The region is going through a phase of rapid economic development related to the extraction of its natural resources, including fish, oil, gas and various metals. At the same time, on the Russian side, the human rights problems remain very severe. (27-MAR-07)
 

As part of his tour of Australia, the US and Europe, Professor Nguyen Chinh Ket, right, paid a visit to both HRHF and the Oslo Human Rights House and the Rafto Human Rights House in Bergen earlier this month. This article tells the story of his life as a democracy and human rights defender. After leaving his homeland, an arrest order has been issued on Chinh Ket. (27-MAR-07)