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The Norwegian Helsinki Committee invites you to the seminar: Five years after Anna Politkovskaya’s death- The legacy of Anna

Over the last year, the human rights defenders in the Russian Federation, South Caucasus and Central Asia have faced increased and more sophisticated pressure from the authorities. In this panel, representatives from human rights organizations in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kirghizstan and the Russian Federation will give examples about the challenges they and their colleagues are facing in their daily work for the defense of human rights.

A number of human rights organizations prepared and sent a letter of concern on inadmissibility of death penalty to international institutions by reason of the trials of Uladzislau Kavaliou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, accused of organizing terrorist attacks in Belarus. Belarusian HRH joined the statement.

Шэраг праваабарончых і грамадскіх арганізацый падрыхтавалі і накіравалі да міжнародных структур зварот аб недапушчальнасці смяротнага пакарання з нагоды суду над Уладзіславам Кавалёвым і Дзмітрыем Канавалавым, якіх абвінавачваюць у арганізацыі тэрактаў у Беларусі.

The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) voiced its concerns about the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kenya at the UN Human Rights Council session.

September 21 is an International Day of Peace. The Human Rights House Tbilisi dedicated the Peace Week to this day. Within a week, the HRHT organized several different events during a week, starting from September 21 to 23.

As world leaders gathering in New York for United Nations General Assembly, one of the most controversial political figures, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once again attracted attention by his populist statements in the General Assembly. However the president said nothing about continuing violations of human rights by his own regime. Iran remains to be one of the worst places in the Middle East with regard to women’s, rights, freedom of expression and other fundamental human rights set in the Universal Human Rights Declaration

On July 5, 2011 the Georgian parliament amended the Civil Code in an expedited way, within 5 working days, allowing religious organizations in Georgia to be registered as legal entities of public law. Some experts consider that the Georgian Parliament approved the amendment through violations of the bylaws. They also deem that amendment allows large interpretation of the norm, thus it requests better formulation.

On 3 September a journalist, poet and activist Faranak Farid was arrested in Iran. On 8 September a prominent journalist, playwright, film-maker and member of Iraqi PEN Hadi al-Mahdi was murdered in Baghdad. On 21 September Omani court sentenced two journalista of an independent newspaper to five months in prison and ordered to shut the newspaper down for a month.

Kazakhstan authorities continue to hold a harsh grip over human rights defenders, lawyers and opposition. Upcoming court appeal hearing of lawyer Natalya Sokolova, right, is yet another example of Kazakhtan’s horrific human rights record.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has published the report ‘Class action suits after a year from their introduction’. ‘The institution of a class action suit is not a revolutionary change in the Polish law’, says Marek Niedużak, the author of the report. ‘Still, this is an important step towards a better access to justice’, he adds.

Concerns about the continuously deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus were raised by the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) at the most recent UN Human Rights Council session. In its oral statement, HRHF highlighted the escalating repression against human rights defenders and their organisations, lawyers, journalists and political activists.