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Tunisia: Internet repression casts pall on web summit
As the World Summit on the Information Society opens today in Tunis, Tunisia continues to jail individuals for expressing their opinions on the Internet and suppress Web sites critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said in a comprehensive new report on the repression of Internet users in the Middle East and North Africa. (15-NOV-05)
UN urges Belarus to investigate two murders of journalists
Adrian Severin, United Nations human rights envoy urged Belarusian authorities to investigate the murders of the journalists Vieranika Charkasava, right, and Vasil Hrodnikau and end “systematic harassment and persecution” of non-state media. He also called on authorities to ensure respect for the right to freedom of opinion and expression. (14-NOV-05)
Zinaida Hanchar: the Belarusian authorities mislead the international community
“The authorities didn’t miss the opportunity to mislead the international community”, — that’s how Zinaida Hanchar, wife of the kidnapped politician Viktar Hanchar, commented on the statement of Belarusian MPs made at the 113th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. As a result of Mr. Salauiou’s statement about the “resumption of Hanchar’s case” the wife of the missing politician applied to IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini. (17-NOV-05)
UN urges Belarus to investigate murder of two journalists
United Nations human rights envoy Adrian Severin urges Belarusian authorities to investigate the murders of the journalists Vasil Hrodnikau, right, last month and Vieranika Charkasava in October last year, and to end the “systematic harassment and persecution” of non-state media. (14-NOV-05)
Police break up campaign rally in Kenya
Two people were shot dead and two others seriously injured when police broke up an Orange rally in Likoni, Mombasa, yesterday. Cabinet ministers Raila Odinga (right) and Najib Balala were caught up in the violence that left several people injured and two vehicles burnt. (13-NOV-05)
Poland signed the revised European Social Charter!
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 regional workshop of the Social Partnership Foundation
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)
Victory for women’s rights in Africa
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 court jails Uyghur editor for publishing veiled dissent
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)