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On 25 October in Strasbourg, ambassador Piotr Switalski – a representative of the Polish government at the Council of Europe – signed the revised European Social Charter. Now this document must be ratified by the Polish parliament.  (11-NOV-05)

The Russian Research Center for Human Rights is continuing to develop its program of Public Control for Human Rights observance in Closed Establishments of the Russian Federation. A peculiarity in the new stage of this program is the broad cooperation with representatives of the government and experts from international organizations. (11-NOV-05)

On 26 October, Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), campaigning for the popularization, ratification and domestication of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, welcomed the 15th ratification of the Protocol, which will now come into force within 30 days. This will mark a milestone in the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Africa, says Faiza Mohamed (right) of Equality Now.

Chinese authorities have jailed the chief editor of the Kashgar Literature Journal for publishing a fable they regard as a veiled indictment of China’s heavy-handed rule in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has learned. The author of the story is already serving a 10-year jail term for inciting separatism. (10-NOV-05)
 

On the 9-th of November there took place the big manifestation of supporters of “Azadlig” Bloc in the route from “January 20” metro station towards “Galaba” cinema. Thousands of opposition supporters made the huge people’s flow toward the Galaba. In addition to united Azadlig Bloc, the national Unanimity party and the “Yeni Siyaset” bloc joined to the protest action. The participation of young people in the protest action is noteworthy. The rally was watched by hundreds of international journalists and representatives of international organizations (09-NOV-2005).
 

Monopolization of the informational field in the Republic of Belarus is going on. The authorities use all possible means to close the remaining few independent information sources. In 2006 three independent newspapers will lose subscription. (10-NOV-05)

Sokari Douglas Camp and Siraj Izhar are the joint winners of the competition to design a Living  Memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa, it was announced at a commemoration ceremony in London today. The event marked the 10th anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight fellow campaigners, and drew attention to the continued deterioration of the Niger Delta. (10-NOV-05)
 

The opposition bloc Azadlig (Freedom) does not recognize the results of the Parliamentary elections, held on the 6-th of November. Having in hands the hundreds facts of law violations on the election day, the opposition representatives stated to continue the struggle for fair and democratic election results. The leaders of Azadlig bloc called all the people, including independent candidates, whose rights had been violated, to join the efforts to make the struggle effective and fruitful (09-NOV-2005).
 

The 6 November elections of Republic of Azerbaijan continue to be the issue of concern and regret of numerous international / diplomatic missions in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Having observed the elections in a number of polling stations, the international representatives cannot help making their comments on the topic (09-NOV-2005).