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A world premiere on a new documentary by renowned Norwegian film maker Erling Borgen and an exhibition of pictures by the independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva’s photographer Julia Darashkevich topped the programme on the first day of HRHN’s annual meeting.

Kyrgyz human rights reporter Azimjon Askarov was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by a court in Jalal-Abad region, southern Kyrgyz Republic on 15 September 2010. Kyrgyzstan-based Uzbek journalist Ulugbek Abdusalamov was arrested on 14 June in the same Jalal-Abad region and has been held in detention since then.

Alim Abdiriyim, son of Uyghur activist Rebiya Kadeer, is being tortured and otherwise ill-treated in detention, according to his family. They believe his life is at risk. He has been in prison in Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of the People´s Republic of China since 2006 on tax evasion charges. Amnesty International Norway urges Chinese government to ensure that Alim Abdiriyim is not subjected to torture in prison and calls to write an appeal.

In response to the intervention to the pending Polish investigation on behalf of al-Nashiri, the American Civil Liberties Union called on the Obama administration to broaden its own investigation into the Bush-era torture program to include top-level U.S. government officials who may have known about and authorized such abuse.

On 21 September 2010 lawyers intervened on behalf of Guantanamo prisoner Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in a pending Polish investigation on CIA black sites, demanding the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for his illegal transfer, detention, and torture on Polish soil.

The Human Rights House Network’s (HRHN) annual meeting opens today in Vilnius, Lithuania. For the first time, the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile hosts the series of events which will go on until Saturday. Following the two-day meeting, an international conference will address the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus and the Baltic states. Finally, there will also be a particular Belarusian forum.

On 22-23 September 2010, the Human Rights House Network holds its annual meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. On 22 September, the participants in the meeting adopted a statement on the human rights situation in the Republic of Belarus.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the Republic of Macedonia recently commented to the draft amendments and supplements to the Law on Electronic Communications noting that the proposed amendments and supplements present severe interference in the sphere of privacy of citizens with illegal and arbitrary access of the body for interception of communications, without any adequate guarantees against abuse.

Western Balkans

In a statement published on 15 September, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee expresses concerns regarding the severe threats against Natalia Radzina, Svetlana Kalinkina and Nicolai Khalezin. According to NHC, after the tragic death of Aleh Byabenin on 3 September 2010, pressure has mounted against journalists and friends of Byabenin, who have questioned the authorities’ hastened conclusion that he committed suicide.

The Appellate Court considered Eynulla Fatullayev’s appeal from the earlier convictions yesterday. Fatullayev, right, a prominent Azeri journalist, has been convicted on various charges, including terrorism and tax evasion. Many international organizations, including the Council of Europe, OSCE and the European Union, considered those charges to be frivolous and have called on the Azerbaijani government to release the journalist from jail.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Moscow – among them partners of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee such as Moscow Helsinki Group, Memorial, Golos, Human Rights Watch, and Centre for Human Rights and Democracy – received letters from the Prosecutor’s Office late on September 13. They were requested to present all documents detailing their activities early the next day.