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To mark World Refugee Day, English Pen, Index on Censorship and the Committee to Protect Journalists will hold a panel discussion examining the plight of journalists and writers living in exile.

19 June, will mark six months since demonstrations against the result of the flawed presidential elections in Belarus resulted in the arrests and detention of over 600 civil society activists. The Belarusian secret police arrested 34 members of the opposition, among them presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists, several of whom are still detained.

The Kyrgyzstani authorities are obliged to establish the truth about what happened. They must provide justice for the thousands of victims of the serious crimes and human rights violations, including crimes against humanity. Otherwise failure to deliver justice for the killing, rape and torture of civilians could lead to further clashes, Amnesty International warned on of the first anniversary of the violence that shook southern parts of Kyrgyzstan.

15 чэрвеня ў Нарвежскім Нобелеўскім інстытуце адбудзецца ўзнагароджанне лаўрэатаў прэміі “Свабодная прэса Ўсходняй Еўропы”. Журналісты і выданні з Расіі, Беларусі, Арменіі, Азербайджану і Украіны атрымаюць узнагароды за канструктыўную і адданую працу, нягледзячы на ціск, рэпрэсіі і цэнзуру.

Article 19 and International Media Support (IMS) have releasing a report “No Justice for Journalists in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia: Impunity and Killings of Journalists Go Hand in Hand”. It documents impunity for violence and disappearances of journalists in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine over the last decade. The report shows that the lack of effective investigation of violence against journalists has had a detrimental effect on freedom of expression and facilitated a climate of impunity and a detrimental effect on freedom of expression.

Days after a statement by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media about the importance of freedom of expression on the web, Belarusian KGB detained Internet-activists and tried to delete hundred-thousand-strong dissident groups in the most popular social networks of the country. Fortunately, deleting a social media community is not so easy.

In May 2011, the Senate, the upper House of the Polish Parliament, discussed its amendments to the Family Support and Substitute Custody Act. Senators voted for the adoption of an amendment which bans homosexuals from acting as foster family and running family-type children’s homes. The HFHR intervened in this matter with Grzegorz Schetyna, Speaker of the lower House.

On Thursday, 2 June 2011, Anna Rucka, a journalist with the Przekrój weekly, was acquitted by the District Court in Zakopane. Ms Rucka was accused of disseminating false business information, a misdemeanour under the Polish unfair competition law. The case was conducted as part of the Observatory of the Freedom of Media in Poland Programme – the HFHR’s project.

Прадстаўнік АБСЕ ў пытаннях свабоды СМІ Дуня Міятавіч заявіла пра важнасць свабоды выказвання меркаванняў у інтэрнэце, а праз колькі дзён беларускі КДБ, баючыся рэвалюцый, затрымлівае актывістаў і спрабуе знішчыць стотысячныя суполкі іншадумцаў у самых папулярных сацыяльных сетках краіны. На шчасце, знішчыць суполку не так проста.

A prominent Russian human rights activist of Uzbek origin Bakhrom Khamroev was attacked and beaten in his Moscow apartment block on 6 May 2011. He was hospitalized, police have launched an investigation into the incident. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is deeply distraught to learn of yet another violent attack on employee of Human Rights Center Memorial.

The new amendments to the Law on the Operative-Investigative Activity of Georgia, adopted in September of 2010 raise concerns regarding internet freedom in Georgia. The following provisions were added on September 24, 2010 to the Law: paragraph H (according to English alphabet) of part II of Article VII envisages obtaining information from communication networks and computer systems and installing relevant programs for this purpose and paragraph L (according to English alphabet): “monitoring of internet communications” – observing the open and closed internet communications in the global information network and participation in them.”

The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) condemn the excessive use of force by the police against peaceful anti-government protest in Tbilisi on the night of 26 May 2011. Read the organisations’ joint letter of concern below and right.