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he numerous cases in the Republic of Belarus where youth activists, previously declared unfit for military service, are nevertheless conscripted in retaliation for their civic or political activism causes concern.

A protest is lodged against the libel case the Ministry of Interior has brought against the internationally renowned Human Rights defender Leyla Yunus.

Local sources in the province of Kurdistan have revealed that Ms. Zeinab Jalalian, a member of a Kurdish party, has received the death sentence based on allegations of acting against national interests.

The shocking murder of the lawyer Stanislav Markelov, and the young journalist Anastasia Barburova, on Monday, brings Russia’s human rights record to a new low.

A group of international human rights organisations condemned today the murder of the HR defender and lawyer Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Anastasia Baburova. In the statement to Russian authorities they called for a thorough investigation of the murder and protection of human rights defenders.

A lawyer for the family of a Chechen woman murdered by former army Colonel Yury Budanov was shot dead Monday in central Moscow after holding a news conference decrying Budanov’s early release from prison last week.

Unnamed Macedonian government sources told local media that more restrictive legislation on abortion is in the works, with tighter rules for abortion including seeking the opinion of the fetus’s father.

Republic of Croatia made modest improvements in human rights in 2008, motivated by its desire to join the European Union, but it has yet to fully address obstacles to the return and reintegration of Serbs. The impartiality and effectiveness of domestic war crimes prosecutions remains in doubt. The closure of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission in December 2007 created a human rights monitoring gap.

The Russian authorities are called upon to do everything in their power to bring those responsible for the murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anatasia Barburova to justice – and to demonstrate the will to address the continuing culture of impunity.

The murder of the prominent human rights defender and lawyer
Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Anastasia Baburova is strongly condemned. The Russian authorities are called upon to conduct an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into this and all other political murders in the country. A seperate letter was sent to the international community.

The Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Mr. Walter Kälin, will visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 17 to 23 January 2009, at the invitation of the Government of the DRC.

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