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The Supreme Court refused to consider the complaints of the former candidates to the presidential position of Republic of Belarus Aliaksandr Milinkevich and Aliaksandr Kazulin, in which they asked to bring criminal cases with the aim to find illegitimate the results of the presidential election that was held on 19 March (06-APR-06)
 

More than 30 NGO´s, gathered within the coalition “Public has a right to know” made an official appeal today to the Croatian Parliament requesting the modification of the new Draft Data Secrecy Law, finding it to be in sharp contrast to the Freedom of Information Act. (07-APR-06)
 

More than 30 NGO´s, gathered within the coalition “Public has a right to know” made an official appeal today to the Croatian Parliament requesting the modification of the new Draft Data Secrecy Law, finding it to be in sharp contrast to the Freedom of Information Act. (07-APR-06)
 

The 30 March the Government approved the abolition of 9 out of 25 present draft deferments. The Ministry of Defense promises to shorten the term of military service to 12 months from 2008.  The 1 April mass protest actions against cutting draft deferments were held all over the country. Demonstrators demanded a building up of the professional army and resignation of Minister of Defense, Sergey Ivanov. Human rights activists call on to distrust the Ministry of Defense and the Minister himself. (05-APR-06)
 

North Korea – New approaches, the 7th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees, is this year being held in Bergen, Norway 9-11 May. Organisers are The Rafto Human Rights House, Bergen and The Citizens´ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, Seoul. We hope that the diverse participation from a wide range of fields will create a framework that will not only enhance dialogue between different views, but also links human rights issues to international security, humanitarian aid, and economic development. (05-APR-2006)
 

Several journalists have been released in the Republic of Belarus the last days after 8-12 days´ imprisonment. The editor of Nasha Niva, Andrej Dynko has published a diary from his detention in Akrestsina prison. -The worst tricks of Soviet times are back, and the repressive machine has grown much larger. In 1996, the courts fined people for scuffling with police. In 2006, they convict young women to 7 days on a plank bed without mattresses for a bottle with tea, Dynko writes. (4-APR-06)
 
 

Several journalists have been released in the Republic of Belarus the last days after 8-12 days´ imprisonment. The editor of Nasha Niva, Andrej Dynko has published a diary from his detention in Akrestsina prison. -The worst tricks of Soviet times are back, and the repressive machine has grown much larger. In 1996, the courts fined people for scuffling with police. In 2006, they convict young women to 7 days on a plank bed without mattresses for a bottle with tea, Dynko writes. (04-APR-06)
 

The Republic of Uganda Human Rights Commission, lead by Margaret Sekaggya, right, has ordered the government to pay Shs 11 million to Celestine Ecweru, a Soroti resident whom UPDF soldiers and police officers tortured and illegally detained in 2001. This infringed his rights to personal liberty and contravened Article 22, 23 and 44 of the Constitution which provide for lawful detention and a personal right to freedom from torture. (04-APR-06)
 

Hina Jilani, right, the UN Secretary General´s Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders, once again visited the Human Rights House today summing up the achievements as her second and last term is coming to an end later this year. -Throughout my six years in this post, I have concentrated on meeting human rights defenders, said Jilani. Their security and working conditions remain lacking. Even the UN itself repeatedly ignores the particular problems of human rights defenders. (03-APR-06)