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Arbitrary detention is used in Belarus against political opponents and persons exercising their freedoms of conscience, opinion and expression. The use of arbitrary detention as a tool of systematic repression of critical voices constitutes a serious violation of human rights as the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention underlines. We urge the authorities of the Republic of Belarus to release all political prisoners and to compensate them for the harm suffered.

On 18 April 2012 in Baku, security guards attacked a prominent Azerbaijani journalist, Idrak Abbasov. This violent assault constitutes another case out of a long list of journalists harassed and attacked in Azerbaijan. The authorities of Azerbaijan bear the international responsibility to fully guarantee and promote the right to freedom of expression, as well as to carry out a prompt and impartial investigation and bring those responsible for these hideous crimes to justice in fair and open trial.

Azerbaijani and international NGOs condemn the blackmail and continued harassment of one of the independent investigative journalists working in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Khadija Ismayilova. The most recent episode in the harassment campaign involves a one minute film of an intimate nature being posted on the internet on Wednesday 14 March 14.

Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform Appeals to the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark and Minister for European Affairs, Nicolai Wammen, Denmark

On February 28, 2012, during his annual speech in Parliament, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili referred to a student, Mikheil Aleksidze, who has been expelled from the public school # 53 as a hooligan. He said Aleksidze was expelled because of his disobedience to the school director. Saakashvili said we live in different time and criminal mentality no longer works in public schools.

44 non-governmental organisations, including partners and members of the Human Rights House Network, urge the Human Rights Council to raise concern relating to fundamental freedoms in Azerbaijan.

Member organisations of the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) are deeply concerned by the continued politically motivated imprisonment of persons in Azerbaijan for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The condemnation of Ales Bialiatski illustrates how seriously threatened freedom of association and freedom of expression are in Belarus.
Members and partners of the Human Rights House Network call upon Belarusian authorities to immediately release and drop all charges against human rights defender Ales Bialiatski; to fully rehabilitate him and to ensure unhampered activities of human rights and other civil society organizations.

Member and partner NGOs of the Human Rights House Network are concerned by the threats against human rights defenders in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Authorities have the responsibility to take pro-active measures to ensure the security of human rights defenders in general – and in this recent case the members of the Human Rights House Sarajevo, especially the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.