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With zero sense of irony, and equally blinkered regarding the possibility that this might strike back on themselves, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement doubting the transparency and democracy of the recent presidential elections in the USA. The irregularities of the almost as recent presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus are thoroughly documented on this website. (10-NOV-04)
 

Shirin Ebadi has filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department for preventing her from publishing her autobiography in the United States, reports PEN American Center (PEN). The law suit follows Ebadi´s participation at the Human Rights House Network´s conference ´Activists under Attack. Defending the Right to be a Human Rights Defender,´ held in Oslo mid-October, during which Ebadi met the Norwegian PEN centre, a member of the Oslo Human Rights House, and announced her intentions to sue the US government. (10-NOV-04)
 

The Union of Soldiers´ Mothers Committees, memeber organization of the Russian Reaserch Center for Human Rights, proposed to negotiate with the commanders of Chechen separatists. Valentina Melnikova (picture), the chairwoman of the Union of the Soldiers Mothers Committees of Russia said that in a telephone conversation with Zakayev, the exiled envoy offered to start negotiations, and she agreed on a “meeting in a Western European capital in November”. (09-NOV-04)
 

Human Rights Watch called on Russian authorities to fight hazing in the Russian Army, where two years of service are mandatory for all Russian males, and killings and suicides claim dozens of lives every year. The group called hazing one of Russia´s biggest human rights problems. (09-NOV-04)
 

At least 2,000 people gathered on Pushkin Square on Saturday 23 of October to call for an end to the war in the Chechen Republic. It was one of the largest antiwar protests in years and also provided a rare public platform for broader criticism of President Vladimir Putin´s rule. (09-NOV-04)

Republic of Croatia will not be cleared of mines until 2010, the deadline defined by the Ottawa Convention and prescribed by the National Program For Counter-Mine Effect. Solution of one of the most important humanitarian problems in the Republic of Croatia is postponed once again. (NOV-8-04)

On 4th of November the Polish Sejm passed the Act on National Minorities, which had been in the making for 11 years. The act contains a catalogue of the rights of the people belonging to minorities, which are already guaranteed by other Polish legal acts. The right to use a minority language as a auxiliary language at offices of administration, which has been the aim of the exertions of minority circle members in the Republic of Poland, was not included in the act. (08-11-04)

The Balkan Regional Conference on Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding was held from 4th to 6th November in Igalo, Montenegro. It was organised by the Nansen Dialogue Network in the Balkans in cooperation with the Bulgarian School of Politics and Albanian Peace and Education Project. (08-NOV-04)
 

Murdered filmaker Theo van Gogh was both an outspoken proponent and exponent of free expression who consciously courted controversy. Index on Censorship reports (04-NOV-04)