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On May 13, at 13:00 the Lithuanian Parliament is hosting the opening of a photo exhibition dedicated to the events of 19 December, 2010 in Belarus, that initiated unprecedented wave of repressions. The exposition contains the photos from after-election protest demonstration in Belarus. At the same time, you will have a chance to visit a press-conference on the occasion of 15th anniversary of Human Rights Centre “Viasna”.

13 траўня ў Літоўскім Сойме адбудзецца адкрыццё фотавыставы, прысвечанай падзеям 19 снежня 2010 году ў Беларусі, што распачалі беспрэцэдэнтную хвалю рэпрэсій. Выстава адкрыецца ў ходзе адкрытых слуханняў у Літоўскім Сойме. Перад адкрыццём выставы адбудзецца прэс-канферэнцыя з нагоды 15-годдзя найбуйнейшай беларускай праваабарончай арганізацыі “Вясна”.

In February 1989, Iranian authorities issued international fatwa – a death sentence – against Salman Rushdie for having authored the novel ‘Satanic Verses’. In Norway as in many other countries, mobilisation for freedom of expression and a heated debate followed on where to draw the line between what some experienced as blasphemy and others saw as legitimate exercise of freedom of expression.

For ninety years, English PEN has been fighting for the freedom to write and the freedom to read at home and abroad. In this special birthday performance, devised in partnership with Jonathan Holmes of Jericho House Theatre Company, today’s authors draw on the words of those who have led PEN’s fight over the last century, from HG Wells to Monica Ali.

On 9 May will be shown the first public screening in the UK of ‘I have no enemies’, the Nobel Peace Prize Documentary on Liu Xiaobo, the only Nobel laureate currently in detention.

Free speech is a world issue that forms an integral part of fundamental human rights. In this six-week course led by Amanda Hopkinson, you will examine universal, national and regional declarations of human rights, study the relationship between human justice and legal systems, and focus on individual case studies that showcase the right to liberty, movement and free expression.

Staff members of HRHF travel to Azerbaijan to re-open the Human Rights House in Baku. The house was closed by the authorities on 10 March 2011. Meetings have been scheduled with Azerbaijani authorities, various embassies, national human rights organisations and international organisations. HRHF will also participate in a seminar with the Media Rights Institute in Baku.

Staff members of HRHF go to Georgia for meetings on the process to establish a Human Rights House in Tblisi. There will also be discussions on how best to follow up on Georgia’s Universal Periodic Review nationally, ahead of the adoption of the report from the country’s UPR, to take place at the UN Human Rights Council’s session in Geneva in June.

There is widespread concern for the safety and well-being of Azerbaijan’s journalist and Honorary Member of English PEN Eynulla Fatullayev. To raise and maintain awareness of Eynulla’s case and of the increasingly poor state of free expression in Azerbaijan, a worldwide ‘Day of Action’ is organised on Wednesday 20 April 2011 – four years since his arrest.