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ARTICLE 19, the Campaign for Free Expression,  issued a press release on 14 November calling for the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that would call for an end to human rights violations in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar). The Council held formal talks on the issue on 29 September. It is hoped that a resolution would help put an end to the forced labour in the country as well as lead to the release of some of the more than 1000 imprisoned political opponents, including leader of the opposition Aung San Suu Kyi. (28-NOV-06)
 

367 religious communities passed the state registration in the Republic of Azerbaijan. 31 of them are non-Islamic communities. The U.S. Ambassador Ms.Anna Derse (on the right) said “there must come a day when the religious organizations in the Republic of Azerbaijan will act independently, without registration by the government, like in the USA”. The Ambassador mentioned that when this day comes, there won’t be necessity for such agencies as the State Committee on the Work with Religious Structures. (20-Nov-06)
 

16 female students of Sumgait State University applied to DEVAMM with the complaint of not being allowed to the classes for having their heads covered with the headscarves.  The students told that they have been under psychological pressure for a long time, but recently the pressure started to be more aggressive. The chair of DEVAMM Hajy Ilgar Ibrahimoglu (on the right) organized the Monitoring Group of 20 people to make a research of the issue. (18-NOV-06)
 

One more attempt of journalists to conduct an unauthorized picket was cruelly dispersed by police. The reporters were protesting the authorities’ attempt to evict Azadlig daily from its building and other media organizations located in the same building. About 70 people were detained during the action of protest. Some of them were released after fines and warnings. (16-NOV-06)
 

The report the nongovernmental corruption watchdog Transparency International, published on the 6-th of November, ranked Republic of Azerbaijan for the130th place out of 163 world’s most corrupted countries. The index ranks 163 countries by their perceived levels of domestic corruption in the public sector. As usual, at the top of the list are several Scandinavian countries, such as Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. (08-NOV-06)
   

ARTICLE 19, the Campaign for Free Expression,  issued a press release on 14 November calling for the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that would call for an end to human rights violations in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar). The Council held formal talks on the issue on 29 September. It is hoped that a resolution would help put an end to the forced labour in the country as well as lead to the release of some of the more than 1000 imprisoned political opponents, including leader of the opposition Aung San Suu Kyi. (28-NOV-06)
 

The representatives of different international organizations, taking part in the annual conference of the Human Rights House Foundation in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia, disscussed the uneasy stage the media of Republic of Azerbaijan is at. Being seriously concerned with the ongoing attack on media, the representatives of 13 organizations signed the protest letter on the 25-th of November for support of freedom of expression and democracy. The text of the letter is given below. (26-NOV-06)
 

On November, 17th the State Duma approved in the third reading a scandalous amendment to election law eliminating the minimum voter turnout requirement for elections and it also eliminates early voting. The bill provoked a stormy reaction among opposition movements, mass media and human rights activists, demanding to abolish all antidemocratic amendments introduced into electoral law during last years. (25-NOV-06)
 

The former candidate for the presidency Mr. Kazulin was arrested on 25 March 2006. He was sentenced to 5.5 years of prison. The oppositionist was admitted the prisoner of conscience by Belarusian and International society. Mr. Kazulin announced the hunger strike on 20 October to protest against ‘lawlessness in Belarus’ and to demand consideration of the situation in the Republic of Belarus at the UN Security Council. (24-NOV-06)