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On December 19, presidential elections was held in the Republic of Belarus. Never before have there been so many candidates. So why was there no real change? Right, incumbent president Lukashenko, likely to stay in power.

A report on torture by Belarusian HR defenders is now available in English. The UN Committee Against Torture is going to examine it as an alternative to the official one in 2012. The rights defenders would like to use the time left to establish a dialogue with the authorities. However, in their report the government insists no torture occurs in Belarusian prisons.

International lawyers have launched legal action in the Republic of Poland on behalf of Abu Zubaydah, the first victim of the CIA’s experimental torture programme, regarding crimes committed in the CIA’s ‘most important’ secret prison in Stare Kiejkuty, Republic of Poland.

The issues of gender equality, realization of women’s human rights in public and private spheres, and the application of domestic laws and international obligations, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of discrimination against Women (CEDAW), have been pushed into the background in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country still burdened by ethnic and national divisions, which hinder the social, economic and political development, and dominate the public discourse.

48 members of the Human Rights House Network and of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders have issued a statement in which they express deep concern about the recent attacks on the Armenian political prisoner Nikol Pashinyan and call upon the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to immediately release him.

On the 13th of December Independent Psychiatric Association of the Russian Federation and Moscow Helsinki Group held a seminar ‘Human Rights and Psychiatry’ within the projects on the protection of people with mental disorders and prevention of tortures in closed establishments of the Russian Federation. More then 40 experts, representatives of regional NGOs visited the event.

13 декабря в Москве в гостинице «Турист» прошел заключительный семинар в рамках проектов по защите прав граждан с психическими расстройствами и предотвращению пыток в закрытых учреждениях России, организованный НПА России совместно с Московской Хельсинкской группой при финансовой поддержке Европейской Комиссии. На семинаре присутствовали более 40 человек из разных регионов России, представители правозащитных организаций, в том числе тех, которые защищают права инвалидов.

The two independent organisations Human Rights Center in Georgia and Georgian Young Lawyers Association go today to Geneva to meet various state delegations to lobby them to raise concerns among others about freedom of expression, assembly, and the rule of law in Georgia. This is part of the independent human rights sector’s preparations for Georgia’s UPR, scheduled for the 10th session, end of January 2011.

On December 3, the HRH Tbilisi and its member organizations (Article 42 of constitution, HRIDC, GCRT, Union Sapari and the Center for Human Rights and Conflicts Studies Caucasia) launched the Human Rights Week which ended on December 10, the International Day for Human Rights. Within the Week, different events were organized including workshops, documentary film screenings and discussions. The purpose of the week was to popularize and bring increased recognition to the International Human Rights Day and to raise the awareness of the Georgian students, journalists and human rights defenders in the fields of human rights.

Shadow Report Presentation

East and Horn of Africa is the most dangerous region in the world for journalists. Out of 145 reporters, editors, and photojournalists held behind bars on 1 December 2010, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 25 are imprisoned in this region. 17 of them are jailed in State of Eritrea.

By barring Liu and his wife from collecting the award, coming down hard on his supporters and muzzling debate on the subject, China’s actions have highlighted the human rights plight at home. Tibetans show their support to Liu Xiaobo and for his release.