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On May 3rd, the international day of freedom of expression, the members of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders in Georgia – Human Rights Center, Article 42, Center for the Protection of Constitutional Rights and Multinational Georgia – express their deep concern over the fact that journalists represent one those groups of human rights defenders in Georgia, who most often face pressure and intimidation from the authorities.

The role of civil society in offering protection and services to refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons.

At the the World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, journalists, human rights defenders, public figures, and representatives of international organizations visited the grave of the murdered editor Elmar Huseynov, right. The Human Rights House Foundation, Article 19 and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee were present to honour the editor and to show solidarity with his colleagues.

Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur human rights defender, the 2004 Rafto Prize laureate, and Lidia Yusupova, Chechen human rights advocate, the 2005 Rafto Prize laureate, were among the speakers at the Oslo Freedom Forum from 26-29 April, an annual conference that brings together human rights defenders to share their experience and expertise.

Freedom House published the survey of the freedom of the press in the world – “Freedom of the Press-2010.” Georgia is on the 126th place classified as partly free, followed by Honduras, Nepal and Paraguay. the Russian Federation is on the 175th place, classified as not free, followed by The Gambia. Georgia has moved forward with one rate but it still stays a country where media is “partly free”.

Human rights activists across the Russian Federation stage protests on the 31st day of January, March, May, July, August, October, and December to focus attention on Article 31 of the Russian Federation Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly. The latest one was the ninth protest action of the kind which was not permitted by Moscow authorities.

Police shut down the roads, traffic and malls around the State Oil Academy in an attempt to prevent the commemoration of the anniversary of the shooting rampage at the Academy, where the lone gunman killed 12 and wounded dozens on 30 April last year.

Supported by Index on Censorship, campaigners from across the UK and abroad are to converge on London’s Trafalgar Square on 3 May in support of Zarganar, Burma’s most famous comedian, writer and blogger turned prisoner of conscience.

The Oslo Freedom Forum 2010 ran from April 26-28, 2010 in Christiania Theatre, Oslo, Norway. In the Forum participated 41 speakers who shared diverse perspectives and expertise, from those individuals with first-hand experience in the fight for human rights to those offering insight based on academic research and political and non-profit leadership. Norwegian Helsinki Committee was among the supporters of this event.

In a statement released today by the independent Azeri human rights organisation Institute of Peace and Democracy, severe concern is expressed over the fact that various kinds of election-related repression has already started, even before the campaign is officially on. Read the full statement below.

On Sunday, 25 April Republic of Belarus was voting for new representatives into local councils. In a customary manner on that day the authorities tried to imitate an atmosphere of a grand national holiday. Unfortunately, the right to elect and be elected as written in the Belarusian Constitution remained protected only by its heavy book cover.

ARTICLE 19 on 29 April 2010 released an analytical report which finds that freedom of expression is under severe threat in the North Caucasus. Although there has been a well-reported outbreak of violence in the region in recent weeks, ARTICLE 19 believes that there is a systematic trend of violations of the right to freedom of expression, which is merely exacerbated by the current security situation.