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Gay parade in Vilnius went eventually as planned. That does not mean that life as a transgender in the Baltic States is a colorful celebration of the love and identity. There are still legal difficulties for the transsexual in the Baltic States to get new gender identities or to change their names.

Human rights organisation Article 19 welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) adoption of a resolution and recommendation on legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus. Article 19 urges the Russian government to address the violations and to adopt comprehensive measures, specifically relating to the right to freedom of expression

27 May 2010 the District Court of Warsaw passed a verdict in the case regarding the problem of providing safety to the so-called whistleblowers. It upheld the sentence passed by the lower court and did not reinstated to work Piotr Sułek, ex-editor-in-chief of the weekly “Post Office”. The Court did indeed agree that the notice of leave was unjustified, but decided to grant Piotr Sułek compensation in the form of one pay in addition to the return of the costs of the proceeding.

У Кастрычніцкім судзе Магілёва працягнецц разгляд адміністрацыйнай справы грамадскай актывісткі Хрысціны Шацікавай, якую вінавацяць у незаконным распаўсюдзе незарэгістраванай газеты “Наш дом”. Пад “распаўсюдам” жа беларускія ўлады маюць на ўвазе перавоз.

Observers from The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Human Rights Center Memorial arrived on 21 June 2010 in Nariman village in the Kara-Suu region of Osh province immediately after the end of a special operation to search for weapons in the homes of local residents. Two local residents were killed and at least twenty injured during the operation.

A delegation from the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court conducted a three-day visit, 22-24 June, to Georgia a State Party to the Rome Statute that created the Court. The main purpose of the visit was to gather additional information from the Georgian authorities on the on-going national investigation into crimes allegedly committed in the context of the August 2008 armed conflict in South Ossetia, Georgia.

English PEN’s Honorary Member, publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu who has been subject to harassment, trials and periods of imprisonment since the 1970s, was acquitted at a hearing on 10 June. On trial in the Republic of Turkey since May 2009, Zarakolu was facing a prison sentence of more than seven years for publishing the novel More difficult Decisions than Death written by N. Mehmet Güler.

The Rohingya minority group in Western Burma has been victim of human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity, according to a report “Crimes against Humanity in Western Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar): The Situation of the Rohingyas”. the Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted and forgotten people.

«У Беларусі ўсё наадварот – цягам дня працэдур яшчэ больш-менш трымаюцца, але ўвечары на ўчастку творыцца поўнае бязмежжа», – уражаннямі дзеляцца некаторыя з больш як 30 ўдзельнікаў міжнароднай назіральнай місіі на прэзідэнцкіх выбарах у Польшчы. Беларуска-літоўска-шведская місія ладзілася ў рамах праекту «Назіранне за выбарамі: тэорыя і практыка» пры ўдзеле Беларускага ДПЧ ў Вільні.

Performance of ‘Another Sky: Voices of Conscience from around the world’, directed by Abbie Bergstrom and Susie Christensen and featuring seven King’s students, is composed of extracts from English PEN’s 2007 anthology of the work of persecuted and imprisoned writers.

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN celebrates 50 years of defending freedom of expression around the world. PEN vice-president and former WiPC-chair, Moris Farhi talks to the first Cities of Refuge-writer in Stavanger, Mansur Rajih, who arrived in Norway after 15 years in jail in Yemen. In cooperation with ICORN.

“Faith and Free Speech: Defamation of Religions and Freedom of Expression” – the International seminar and UN-side event in Geneva.