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A dozen refugees from war-torn the Chechen Republic staged a hunger strike in the Azeri capital Baku demanding that the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) upgrade their status on wednesday, AFP reported.  The UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) Baku office has registered over 10,000 refugees from the Chechen Republic, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq and Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 8,500 of these asylum seekers are from Chechnia. (24-FEB-2005) 

There is still a long way to go for Armenian authorities to ensure compliance with relevant international standards, according to a new report from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. In addition to poor conditions of the majority of the facilities, there are also problems of lengthy pre-trial detentions and abusive interrogation techniques during police investigation. (24-FEB-05)
 

On Monday, the Ugandan parliamentary committee on legal affairs began the public hearings on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2005.  – We are disappointed that only a small, select group seems to have been invited to comment on the Bill, says Niels Jacob Harbitz (picture) from the Human Rights House Foundation. (24-FEB-05)
 

Republic of the Sudan has rejected a call from UN?s human rights commissioner for Darfur war crimes suspects to be tried by the international court in The Hague. Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Muhammed Osman Yasin said those arrested should be tried locally in the Republic of the Sudan. -This kind of confusion is typical of many countries in the region, including Rwanda and Republic of Uganda, says Human Rights House Foundation?s (HRH) Niels Jacob Harbitz, about to leave for Republic of the Sudan. (24-FEB-05)
 

On February 16, domestic and foreign human rights activists, including four from the Human Rights House Network, filled Kwanghawmun, downtown Seoul. As to end the 6th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees, conference participants gathered in front of the Chosun Ilbo newspaper offices – the only place permission was obtained to urge for North Korean human rights improvements. (24-FEB-05)
 

 – I hope the European standards will become a basis for lawmaking in my country, Zhanna Litvina (picture), Chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists said last week in Minsk at a conference co-hosted by HRH, on European human rights standards. The situation for independent media in the Republic of Belarus has worsened since 2001. (23-FEBR-05).
 
 

The Polish Sejm rejected the draft of the new Abortion Law prepared by the social democrats. The members of the parliament, exhorted by the right-wind parties and bishops to block the act, refused to even hold a debate on this topic and removed the work on the draft from the agenda. (23-FEB-05)

– I hope the European standards will become a basis for lawmaking in my country, Zhanna Litvina, Chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists said last week in Minsk at a conference co-hosted by HRH, on European human rights standards. The situation for independent media in the Republic of Belarus has worsened since 2001. (22-FEBR-05).
 
 

On 9 March, at 11 am, Catharina Vogt (right), a board member of Amnesty International, co-located with the Norwegian Human Rights House in Oslo, will premiere her film ‘Innocent’ at the house, and with key politicians present. The shooting for the film is as fresh as January 2005, and Margaret Laker, the mother of the child portrayed in the film, will attend the premiere. (23-FEB-05)