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On July 6, 2010, a journalist for Program 3 of Polish Radio was reprimanded by his employer for authoring an article in Newsweek criticizing Polish Radio. Polish Radio subsequently refused to release documents explaining the basis for the reprimandbecause of “trade secrets.” In response, Helsinki Foundation has written an open letter denouncing Polish Radio’s employment policies.

The European Court’s of Human Rights judgements concerning violation of the right to a fair trial or the right to liberty of a person have not been so far the subject of profound deliberations of the authorities. As a result, judges who are the “authors” of these violations are kept in blissful ignorance of the fact that someone in the Court gave a negative opinion about their work.

In the beginning of 2010 India marked the 60th anniversary of its constitution that sets the legal framework for protection of human rights and forbids discrimination. However, 60 years later, caste discrimination still prevails, particularly with regard to Dalits, the so called “untouchables”.

On 27 July, Republic of Belarus marks the 20th anniversary of independence. As democratic forces are trying to celebrate the liberation from the totalitarian Soviet system, the authorities are enjoying impunity in their Soviet-style crackdown on opposition. Opposition activists face detentions and brutal assault, but no policeman is prosecuted for mistreatment.

27 ліпеня Беларусь адзначае 20-годдзе абвяшчэння незалежнасці ад Савецкага Саюза. Аднак у той час, як дэмакратычныя актывісты спрабуюць святкаваць гадавіну вызвалення з таталітарнай савецкай сістэмы, прадстаўнікі ўлады святкуюць хіба што ўласную беспакаранасць. З апазіцыянерамі ж распраўляюцца паводле старых савецкіх звычак – затрыманнямі і збіццямі.

A Chinese court in the western region of Xinjiang has given a Uyghur journalist and website manager 15 years in jail for “endangering state security” by speaking to foreign journalists, his employer said on 23 July. Uighurbiz.net, where Gheyret Niyaz worked as an administrator, posted a notice saying he had been sentenced at a hearing, quoting his wife who was in the court.

Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress and the Rafto Prize laureate, says she “felt terrible” after hearing that an Uyghur had been arrested on terrorism charges in Norway. Therefore, she asks the international community to refrain from using the possible terrorist activity of this single man to ascertain the aspirations of the broader Uyghur population and their peaceful struggle for freedom.

British author Alan Shadrake was arrested in Singapore on 18 July for writing a book critical of the city state’s use of the death sentence. He was released on a bail on 20 July. If found guilty of criminal defamation, Shadrake could face up to two years in prison and a large fine.

Although the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has committed itself on numerous international documents regarding the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, on the last UPR session in June this year, on the adoption of the UPR report for BiH, out of 125 recommendations made by UN body, BiH accepted only 26 of them.

Republic of Poland is actively involved in many foreign military missions, which raise the possibility of occurrence of situations where soldiers might be involved in various civil and criminal cases connected to the missions. Republic of Poland, however, has not set up a professional legal aid system for soldiers. Therefore, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights on 13 May 2010 organized a press conference revolving around this issue.

Chechen emigrants continue to leave the Chechen Republic and the Russian Federation, hoping to find protection and better conditions in other European countries and Republic of Poland is the one which receives the majority of those migrants. Moreover, as the “gateway” country that many Chechens pass through when leaving Europe, Republic of Poland has become the European state that is legally and de-facto responsible for many Chechen emigrants. 

Demolitions and tighter security spark fears of a new backlash in Xinjiang. A year after deadly ethnic violence rocked the city of Urumqi, authorities in China’s troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have begun demolishing a part of the city that traditionally housed hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghurs, Radio Free Asia reported.