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In conjunction with the Free Word Centre’s exhibition ‘Politics and the Olympics’, Index on Censorship will host an event around the question, ‘Should sport be above politics and human rights?’

The Circuit Court in Rzeszów ruled that the Musa Dogan’s extradition to Turkey would be inadmissible, citing the risk of torture as one of the grounds for the decision.Musa Dogan is a Turkish Kurd. In 1996 he was sentenced to harsh life imprisonment by the State Security Court in Izmir.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe published a note on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. The situation of journalists remains worrying. Rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly remain problematic and are restricted by legislative measures.

On May 1, authoritative international organization Freedom House released its 2012 annual report which evaluates the freedom of media worldwide based on the data collected throughout 2011. According to the report, Georgia registered progress and moved from 55 to 52 points. However, Georgia still occupies place among partly-free countries out of 197 states and territories and is still very close to 61 point limit which starts list of not-free states.

The anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe receives very little attention in today’s Belarus. The Belarusian organization “For Children of Chernobyl” emphasises the importance of remembering about what happened on 26 April 1986.

The 2009 Religion Law of Kyrgyzstan fails to comply with the Constitution and with international human rights standards, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee states. Moreover the law severely restricts religious freedoms, including imposing registration requirements that in effect ban registration of new religious communities other than the Orthodox Church and the Spiritual Board of Moslems. Authorities should take steps to initiate an open and inclusive process of revising the Bakiyev-era Religion Law.

Political prisoner Siarhei Kavalenka (right), who has recently stopped hunger strike, is currently held in a psychiatric hospital “Navinki”, where he has been sent to for a forced psychiatric examination. The activist’s wife speaks about his current condition and about the way he was treated in the Vitsba-3 colony.

Et samlet, internasjonalt menneskerettighetsmiljø retter fokus mot den kommende finalen i Eurovision i Baku, Aserbajdsjan.

In Azerbaijan five independent reporters, including award-winning journalist Idrak Abbasov, were brutally assaulted just weeks before the Eurovision Song Contest.

Актывіст Сяргей Каваленка (на фота) паводле рашэння Віцебскага абласнога суда цяпер утрымліваецца ў псіхіятрычным шпіталі ў Навінках, куды ён накіраваны на прымусовую псіхіятрычную экспертызу, што мусіць цягнуцца 24 дні. Жонка актывіста распавяла пра ягоны цяперашні стан і пра тое, што адбывалася з ім папярэдне ў калоніі «Віцьба-3».

Georgian Bar Association and human rights defenders protest institutional persecution of lawyers in Georgia. The parliamentary majority avoids speaking about it. Minority representative, deputy chair of the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee Dimitry Lortkipanidze rebuked the Public Defender for not having reflected the facts of lawyers’ rights violation in his annual report.

Together with several international human rights organisations, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee strongly condemns the brutal attack on the Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov and four other journalists on 18 April 2012. In a letter adressed to President Ilham Aliyev the NHC demands that the Azerbaijani authorities launch an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into these brutal attacks. Read the letter in full below.