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Delegated judges, whose number has been increasing year by year, are becoming more and more important part of the Ministry of Justice staff. Their number has gone up five times in last five years. However, there are no detailed recruitment and selection procedures for vacant civil service posts within the Ministry, says the report of the HFHR.

Iranian journalist, blogger and activist Asieh Amini has received the Oxfam Novib / Pen Award on January 19 from the hands of human rights ambassador Lionel Veer. The presentation took place at the ‘Theatre at the Spui’ in The Hague, during the Writers Unlimited Winter Nights Festival. This award is presented every year to writers and journalists who are persecuted or have had to flee because of their critical writing

The root causes of the unrest in Zhanaozen are not isolated to this particular region, similar social challenges can be found all over Kazakhstan, Essenbek Ukteshbayev and Ainur Kurmanov, two independent trade union activists from Kazakhstan said during a seminar hosted by NHC in Oslo on 2 February.

The complaint concerning the case of Andrei Sannikau will be lodged to the UN Committee on Human Rights. Zmitsier Bandarenka was allowed to use his crutch only after writing a petition for clemency. Mikalai Statkevich was found inclined to escape and had to destroy about 700 letters in the prison .

Скарга па справе Андрэя Саннікава будзе накіраваная ў камітэт правоў чалавека ААН. Зміцеру Бандарэнку дазволілі карыстацца мыліцай толькі пасля напісання прашэння аб памілаванні. Мікалай Статкевіч быў прызнаны схільным да ўцёкаў і мусіў знішчыць у турме каля 700 лістоў.

Kazakhstan entered into a new year by silencing voices of criticism. The authorities search and arrest opposition activists and tighten up free speech in the internet. Uzbekistan follows the same path: editor Muhammad Bekjanov, held since 1999, has been served with an additional five year sentence.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, will undertake a visit to Georgia from 6 to 13 February 2012.

In January 2012, the Court of Appeal in Cracow changed the decision of the first-instance court and dismissed the lawsuit for the protection of personal interests brought against Andrzej Jezior in an attempt to hold him liable for comments posted by internet users on his blog.

The HFHR appealed to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to strictly supervise the enforcement of the ECtHR judgement entered in the case Kubaszewski v. Poland. The case involves an infringement of the right to freedom of expression and demonstrates a broader problem of disregarding the relevant standards of the ECtHR by Polish courts.

A number of United Nations human rights experts on Thursday expressed their dismay at the continuing abuse of anti-terrorism legislation to curb freedom of expression in Ethiopia.

The credibility of the upcoming Presidential Elections in Russia is waning after Central Elections Commission’s refusal to register the liberal opposition leader, Grigory Yavlinsky for the Presidential race.

The Rafto Foundation calls on the Norwegian MFA to raise the issue of Uyghur asylum seekers sentenced to life in prison and long prison terms in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), China