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Activists from established and emerging Human Rights Houses in ten countries are arriving today in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, to attend the annual meeting of the Human Rights House Network 7-10 September and support Azeri human rights defenders. UN Special Representative for human rights defenders, Hina Jilani, (right) will also attend the meetings, held in partnership with the Human Rights House Network and OSCE, ISHR and the Swedish Helsinki Committee. (06-SEP-05)
 

The most recent OSCE status report on Croatia?s progress in meeting international commitments in the period from November 2004 until 7 July 2005, presented yesterday by the Head of the Mission, ambassador Jorge Fuentes, acknowledged Governments commitment to fulfil it?s OSCE obligations. However, the necessary reforms related to the return of the refugees, rule of law and minority rights proceeded at a lower level. (13-JUL-05)
 

For the parliamentary elections in Norway on Monday, 12 September, election observers from Central Asia, Caucasus and Moldova will be present to make sure all procedures meet international standards, so many times checked by Norwegian observers elsewhere. -We’re turning classical election observation on its head, says Berit Lindeman (right), of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. (5-SEP-05)
 

The Norwegian Burma Committee, among the NGOs in the Human Rights House in Oslo, is critical of the City Council of Stavanger, on the west coast of Norway, who welcomes Total, the French oil giant remaining the biggest Western investor in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), as sponsor of its huge 2008 Cultural City project. Leif Johan Sevland, Major of Stavanger, waves off all protests. (3-SEP-05)
 

Ambassador John Miller, the Director of the State Department´s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons stated this summer that North Korea fails to comply with minimal international standards to prevent trafficking in persons across its borders. Leading up to next year´s international conference on North Korea at the Egil Rafto Human Rights House in Bergen, www.humanrightshouse.org will report on the human rights situation there. (3-SEP-05)
    

The Norwegian Burma Committee, among the NGOs in the Human Rights House in Oslo, is critical of the City Council of Stavanger, on the west coast of Norway, who welcomes Total, the French oil giant remaining the biggest Western investor in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), as sponsor of its huge 2008 Cultural City project. Leif Johan Sevland, Major of Stavanger, waves off all protests. (3-SEP-05)
 

Last Saturday, that is August 27th, Lukashenko “ultimately dissolved” the issue of Poles in the Republic of Belarus by delegalizing the Board of the Association of Poles in the Republic of Belarus (APB), which was democratically elected in March, and appointing new Association authorities, obedient towards the President. (02-SEP-05)

Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) has voiced shock after masked men kidnapped the brother of an opposition daily journalist from a city centre and took him to a suburb where they beat him and threw him into a canal. Ramin Rzayev, brother of “Azadlig” journalist Mohammed Rzayev, was abducted on the evening of 30 August 2005 in the centre of Nakhitchevan, southwestern Republic of Azerbaijan. (2-SEP-05)
 

On August 27th, Lukashenko “ultimately dissolved” the issue of Poles in the Republic of Belarus by delegalizing the democratically elected Board of the Association of Poles in the Republic of Belarus (APB) and appointing new Association authorities, obedient towards the President. (02-SEP-05)
 
Related stories:
Belarus: Polish TV cameraman refused entry
Norwegian protests against harassment of Polish journalists in Belarus  
Letter from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland 
Repressive measures against Poles in the Republic of Belarus