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Youth activists beaten and arrested in Azerbaijan
Last night, 8 July, around 8:00 p.m., Emin Milli (Abdullayev) and Adnan Hajizade were sitting in a restaurant with other young adults, discussing the activity of youth organizations related to the Internet. Up to them came two men, looking like sportsmen. After verbally insulting Milli and Hajizade and demanding that they stop talking politics, they violently attacked them, causing physical injuries.
ICC Prosecutor receives sealed envelope from Kofi Annan on post-election violence in Kenya
Today, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, right, received from Kofi Annan, the Chairman of the AU Panel of Eminent African Personalities, the sealed envelope and supporting materials previously entrusted to Mr. Annan by the Waki Commission on the post-election violence that erupted in the Republic of Kenya in late 2007 and early 2008.
Меркаванне праваабаронцаў: Арцём Дубскі – новы беларускі палітвязень
7 ліпеня 2009 года актывіст “Маладога фронту” Арцём Дубскі быў прыгавораны судом Асіповіцкага раёна да 1 году пазбаўлення волі ў выпраўленчай калоніі агульнага рэжыму. Ён быў узяты пад варту адразу пасля абвяшчэння прысуду. У сувязі з гэтай падзеяй беларускія праваабаронцы ў чарговы раз выказалі занепакоенасць тым, што за ўдзел у мірных акцыях у Беларусі людзі трапляюць у турму.
Pillay alarmed by high loss of life in China’s Xinjiang region
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, right, said Tuesday she was alarmed by the large number of casualties during Sunday’s rioting in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and continuing reports of high tension and unrest, and called for restraint by all actors.
Civil society leaders gather in Moscow during Presidential summit
Russian human rights defenders do not expect help from abroad, but they believe that America as a great world power and President Obama as a world leader must know what kind of condition Russia’s political system is in.
Ireland: Blasphemy law a backward step
-The government should not be creating new laws to enforce provisions written in the reactionary 1930s, says the Irish writer Michael Nugent, right. Nugent is also the chair of the advocacy group Atheist Ireland.
Macedonian minister of justice asked to resign
Having in mind the indisputable fact that the Minister of Justice did not respect the Macedonian law, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in FYR Macedonia, asks Minister Manevski to take his political responsibility and resign his position in the Government.
Censorship of the media in Croatia
On June 29, an international conference took place in Zagreb, Republic of Croatia focusing on the situation of media in the Republic of Croatia and the Western Balkans. The conference was organized by the Open Society Institute which invited and gathered journalists from Republic of Croatia and the region, foreign correspondents and guests, publishing houses, government officials, key international donors, NGOs, and others to participate.
Uighurs protest against China’s clampdown
The Uighur Community in Oslo invites all sympathisers to join their demonstration against China’s very rough handling last Sunday of the local Uighur protests in the Xinjiang province, Western China, against China’s suppression of the Uighurs of the region. Allegedly, more than 500 uighurs were killed in the process of bringing the demonstrations under control. Similar displays of sympathy with the uighurs of Xinjiang will take place in a large number of places around the world.
African Union refuses to cooperate with Bashir arrest warrant
The African Union (AU) has refused to cooperate with a war crimes arrest warrant against Republic of the Sudan President Omar al-Bashir. Amnesty International has described the AU’s decision not to acknowledge the warrant, which was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March, as an insult to victims of human rights violations in Darfur.
Article 212 in relation to freedom of expression in Poland
On the June 30, 2009, the District Court in Zielona Gora (Signature: VII KA 437/09) upheld a verdict condemning former „Gazeta Wyborcza” journalist Robert Rewiński for libel. The journalist was lawfully convicted, after five years of criminal litgation, for an article describing the improper use of public funds at Fundusz Ochrony Środowiska (the Environmental Conservation Fund) in Zielona Góra. The court agreed that Rewiński was acting in the public’s interest; however, he was not cautious enough and used false information, infringing on the reputation of the private accuser. The above statements were used to justify his conviction.
GELBiH: Roll-back of human rights
The new draft of the Gender Equality Law BiH (GELBiH) is finally released, and the Gender Agency BiH presented several improvements on the law. However, the working group for the new draft of the GELBiH2 decided to remove the clause on “harassment and violence based on sexual orientation”.