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The basic characteristic of the local elections held inBosnia and Herzegovina on 2 October 2004 was low level of interest and low voter turnout: out of 2,327,014 registered voters, 45.52% of BiH citizens with the right to vote in Bosnia and Herzegovina turned out to vote at 4057 polling stations in total. (5-OCT-04)
 

Three prominent organisations have moved together in the new Centre for International Free Expression in London: Article 19, Index on Censorship, and English PEN.  (01-OCT-04)
 

If there is a case to be made for opening up more of the activities of the secret services to public scrutiny, you need only look at the failures of the privileged political elites presently tasked to monitor them on our behalf. Associate Editor Rohan Jayasekera atIndex on Censorship, comments.  (01-OCT-04)
 

In his article, Waiting in Pain, The Guardian´s Moscow correspondent Nick Paton Walsh writes about the protracted conflict between Republic of Armenia and Republic of Azerbaijan that has left families of missing soldiers in agonies of uncertainty. The fate of the so-called “NK missing” has helped keep the two countries´ knives at each other´s throats. Republic of Azerbaijan claims there are 4,959 people “missing” since the war and charges that 783 are still being held captive by Republic of Armenia. Republic of Armenia claims 600 are missing. Republic of Azerbaijan says the Armenian claims they have only held 50 or 60 prisoners at a time are nonsense, as they released 1,086 people between 1993 and 2000. The article is published at www.humanrightshouse.org with the consent of the author.(01-OCT-2004)
 

Recently, The Guardian´s Moscow correspondent Nick Paton Walsh wrote an article, “US sidles up to well-oiled autocracy”, which is about the pressures, tortures  used against to oppostion activists,and the depression and hopelessness among the Azerbaijani society after the disputed presidential elections of 2003 in Republic of Azerbaijan. The HRH places this article in its website upon the consent of Nick Paton Walsh. (01-OCT-2004)
 

Three prominent organisations have moved together in the new Centre for International Free Expression in London: Article 19, Index on Censorship, and English PEN.  (01-OCT-04)
 

– The deaths, on Monday, of five inmates at the Meru GK Prison in Kenya have cast doubts over the reforms currently being undertaken on the country’s prisons by the Ministry of Home Affairs under which the correctional institutions fall.  The shocking and saddening deaths bring us to a cruel conclusion that the reforms have been nothing but a fuss, says Center for Law and Research International (CLARION) in a press release from Nairobi. (01-OCT-04) 
 

“Reconciliation resources”, a British non-governmental organization, presented a new project entitled “Audio diaries in Azerbaijan” last Wednesday. The goal of the project implemented with financial aid from the British government’s Global Foundation of Conflict Prevention is to offer facilities for ordinary people to express their views, eliminate existing stereotypes and promote tolerance. (30 Sep 2004)

Nineteen organizations from the “Norwegian NGO Forum” have made recommendations on human rights issues which the Norwegian Government should focus on in this year´s meeting in the UN Human Rights Commission. The NGO forum has focused on five countries, – Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Burundi, Israel and the Ocupied territories, Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Russian Federation, and on five issues, – anti-terror measures, IDP´s, torture, freedom of religion, and neutraliy of humanitarian aid. (29-SEP-04)