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As African women celebrate the rising number of nations ratifying the African Charter on Women?s Rights in Africa (the minimum required to bring it into force is fifteen, Nigeria being the most recent signatory), it is getting increasingly important to explain and simplify the obligations and potential benefits of its provisions to the member states. Linkages must also be drawn between this Protocol and other national and international instruments of policy or law. (21-JAN-05)
 

The Human Rights House is deeply concerned about the fate of Zelimkhan Murdalov, who dissapeared after he left his home in Grozny on 2 January 2001. After three years with suspensions the case will reopen in Grozny the 25 th of January(21-JAN-05).
 

Slowly, but surely, public opinion is turning against the death penalty also in Africa. Fifteen years ago, only one of the continent´s countries, the island of Cape Verde off Africa´s West Coast, had abolished it. Now, ten countries have outlawed the death penalty. Another ten no longer practice it, even if they have yet to deny themselves of the possibility by way of deleting it from their laws. (19-JAN-05)
  

Iran’s judiciary has retreated from its threat to arrest the human rights lawyer and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi. In a rare acknowledgement of mistake, a spokesman for the judiciary referred to the summons quite simply as an error. First, it had not stated a reason, second, the Revolutionary court, before which she was requested to appear would not be the right one. (20-JAN-05)
  

Random House, among the biggest publishing houses in the US, has announced that it will publish Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi´s memoirs. Although there had been an embargo under a Treasury Department regulation on publishing books from nations embargoes by the US, a lawsuit filed late last year resulted in a revision to permit publications of books by individuals from those nations. (20-JAN-05)
 

Yesterday, Uganda´s constitutional court began hearing an unprecedented legal challenge to capital punishment from the country´s more than 400 death row inmates. -While this is surely important, I fear that Ugandan authorities may welcome this opportunity to draw attention away from far bigger human rights problems, especially in the north, says Niels Jacob Harbitz, HRH´s Project Manager for Central and East Africa. (20-JAN-05) 
 

US and Russian presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin will discuss the Upper Garabagh conflict in Bratislava, Slovakia in February, along with other issues, says US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones. The two presidents will call for stepping up activity in resolving conflicts in the former Soviet Union countries, including the Garabagh problem, she said. (19-JAN-2005)

On January 20 it will be 15 years since a horrible tragedy that went down in Azerbaijan´s history as one of the remarkable stages in the national liberation movement.  In the early morning hours on January 20, 1990, atrocities were committed by 26,000 Soviet troops against civilians in Baku. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency declared by then Soviet leader Gorbachev and disclosed to the Azerbaijani people only after hundreds of peaceful residents laid wounded or dead in the streets of Baku. (19-JAN-2005)
 

The organisations in the emerging Human Rights House will organise a seminar in Minsk 18-19 of February 2005. The object is to familiarize Belarusian journalists, lawyers and judges with European standards of human rights. A delegation from the Norwegian PEN and the Huma Rights House Foundation will attend the seminar in Minsk. (20-JAN-05)