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On Thursday, 11 September 2014, at 9:00 am, in courtroom F the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw will hold a hearing in the case of the Military Counter-intelligence Service’s refusal to disclose information on surveillance and the PRISM programme.

The judges who in 2007 did not receive their official appointments to judicial offices lodged applications with the European Court of Human Rights. The applicants are represented by Marcin Ciemiński, an advocate with Clifford Chance.

The NGO Soldiers’ Mothers of Saint Petersburg recently denounced the deaths of Russian soldiers in Ukraine and the silence of the authorities in this regard. The NGO specifically denounced that families and the soldiers themselves were not informed correctly. This public acknowledgement of Russia’s direct involvement in Ukraine was punished by the authorities in Moscow by labeling the NGO “foreign agent.”

At the 111th session, held 7-25 July, the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations considered five new cases concerning Belarus and issued decisions confirming the violation by the Government of Belarus of certain rights of Belarusian citizens.

На 111-й летняй сесіі Камітэта па правах чалавека ААН, якая прайшла 7-25 ліпеня бягучага года, разгледжана пяць новых беларускіх спраў, па якіх прыняты рашэнні аб парушэнні з боку Урада Беларусі тых ці іншых правоў беларускіх грамадзян.

The three candidates nominated for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2014 are the Israeli organisation B’Tselem Israeli, the Maltese Jesuit Refugee Service and the Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli.

In two week’s time, on Friday, 12 September, at 9 a.m., the Regional Court in Koszalin holds another hearing in the case of Marcin K. The case involves the infringement of personal interests related to molestation of a minor by a priest. The Court will hear testimonies of Archbishops Marian Gołębiewski and Kazimierz Nycz via a video link.

The HFHR has presented the second opinion on the new draft legislative guidelines for the law on video surveillance put forward by the Ministry of Interior. As compared with the original draft of December 2013, the current version contains several changes enhancing protection against the excessive use of cameras which may interfere with the right to privacy. Yet some proposals of the Ministry still raise doubts.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has sent a letter to the management of Atletico Madrid in which it has raised the issue of the club’s funding by the Azerbaijani authorities. In the HFHR’s opinion Atletico Madrid players contribute to the promotion of President Ilham Aliyev’s regime by appearing in shirts with the slogan “Azerbaijan. The land of fire”. “We believe this conduct is not worthy of a club with such an excellent sports tradition”, reads the Foundation’s letter.

On 15-17 August Vilnius hosted final session of the third cycle of the project “Bring International Standards Home” (BISH), which is implemented within the framework of the “International Law in Advocacy” program. About 30 graduates received diplomas and certificates of participation in the training course.

15-17 августа в Вильнюсе прошла заключительная сессия 3 цикла проекта “Имплементация де-факто международных обязательств Республики Беларусь в области гражданских прав и свобод” (BISH), который реализуется в рамках программы “Международное право для защиты общественных интересов”. Около 30 выпускников проекта получили дипломы и свидетельства о прохождении учебного курса.

Participants of the “International Law in Advocacy” program prepared a statement on the situation with detention of Intigam Aliyev and arrests of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan. The statement was approved within the framework of the final session of the “Bring International Standards Home” project and signed by human right lawyers and advocates. The authors of the statement call upon all those concerned to join the wider campaign to support and fight for the liberation of Intigam Aliyev and other political prisoners.