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3 жніўня ў Беларускім Доме правоў чалавека ў Вільні пройдзе прэзентацыя дакументальнага фільма “Прычына смерці – прочырк” , які распавядае пра праблему смяротнага пакарання ў Беларусі.

The Anti-Boycott Law, the Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott, was adopted by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and came into force on 11 July 2011. Article 19 and Index on Censorship expresses its serious concerns regarding the new Israeli law. The new law seriously hampers the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and freedom of association in Israel.

“How strange it works. We write about all the important things: about hopes of IMF credit, about another price rise, about the youngest state Southern Sudan. At the same time a young boy is being slowly, quietly, methodically killed in the Navapolatsk colony, ” – wrote journalist Svetlana Kalinkina about the youngest political prisoner in Belarus. We present the whole essay here.

On 15 July the HFHR intervened with the President of FIBA Europe, the European branch of the Federation of International Basketball Associations, regarding the incident that occurred during the European Women’s Basketball Championship held in Poland in June. A detailed account of the incident can be found in the article ‘A Polish scandal with a Belarusian flag’ published in the Rzeczpospolita daily.

The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published a report on Poland. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights arranged a press conference devoted to the findings of the report. The report describes the situation in Polish prisons and detention centres as observed during the CPT representatives’ visit to Poland in November and December 2009.

The Rafto Alumni has been created for the first time and in November 2011 a get-together will be taking place in Bergen when Rafto Foundation celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Rafto Prize. The Rafto Alumni will comprise of former members of the Rafto student group. The idea of a new initiative is to give former members a place to meet.

“Як дзіўна ўсё ўпарадкавана. Мы пішам пра ўсякае важнае: пра крэдыт МВФ, пра рост коштаў, пра <...> Паўднёвы Судан. А ў Наваполацкай калоніі ў гэты час спакойна, метадычна фактычна забіваюць хлопца,” – у эсэ “Катаванне” піша аглядальніца Святлана Калінкіна пра наймаладзейшага палітвязня Беларусі. Падаем эсэ цалкам.

Georgian Civil society representatives call upon the Government of Georgia to guarantee the right to a fair and public trial for the detained photographers and to carry out an impartial and transparent investigation in accordance with international human rights law.

18 July, 2011 – Paris, Geneva, Oslo, The Hague, London – We, international human rights organizations, call on the Government of Georgia to guarantee the right to a fair and public trial for the detained photographers and to carry out an impartial and transparent investigation in accordance with international human rights standards.

The Belarusian general prosecutor, Grigory Vasilevich, has stood up for journalists and defended their right to report on ongoing political protests. According to a 15 July statement issued by his press office, Vasilevich sent a letter to Interior Minister Anatoly Kuleshov reminding his colleague of journalists’ rights under the law. Last week Belarusian Authorities also dropped lawsuits aimed at closing two independent newspapers in country.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have detained at least six people following the appearance of leaflets in Aksu city calling for independence from Beijing on July 1, as the ruling Communist Party marked its 90th anniversary. Radio Free Asia reports that Uyghur students studying in eastern China are expelled for practicing their religion. The relatives of Uyghur political prisoners complain they too are living out a sentence.

Article 19 commends the current version of the Decree regarding access to the administrative documents held or produced by Tunisian public authorities and urges the Interim Government to accomplish it in a period of six month. Adoption of the Decree is an important milestone in process of democratic transition in Tunisia through building a culture of transparency, protecting the right to know and strengthening accountability.