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Recently founded by the U.S. State Secretary, AWARD for COURAGE found its laureate in the Republic of Azerbaijan – Ms. Novella Jafaroglu (on the right) – the chairwoman of the Association for Women’s Rights Protection after D.Aliyeva and representative of Human Rights House Baku, received the award “Woman of Courage” for her work and achievements in the sphere of protection for freedom and human dignity. Novella Jafaroglu was awarded by the US Ambassador to Republic of Azerbaijan Ms. Anne Derse on the 13-th of April 2007. (15-APR-07)

Being one of the biggest global problems, breast cancer is widely spread in the Republic of Azerbaijan too. According to the official statistics, the number of women with breast cancer in the Republic of Azerbaijan is raising to 15% every year. The Women’s Association for Rational Development (WARD) implements the project “Women against Breast Cancer” which supposes the Breast Cancer Awareness in 15 poorest villages in the outskirt of Baku. (04-APR-07)

OSCE Media Freedom Representative Miklos Haraszti (on the right) released his annual report on media freedom in the OSCE space. According to Haraszti there are still serious problems in the Azerbaijan’s media sector, like the unsolved murder of Elmar Huseynov, the unjustified eviction of Azadlig Newspaer, Turan and other media organs from Khagani 33 last fall, and the imprisonment of satirist/journalist Sakit Zahidov. (29-MAR-07)

The Citizens’ Labor Rights Protection League implements the project “Monitoring of Social-Economical Rights in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Organization of Campaigns”. As a project result, there was prepared the final Report, the preparation of which was based on the application of different monitoring tools. The chairman of CLRPL Sahib Mamedov (on the right), emphasized the importance and necessity of the project realization. (17-MAR-07)

The U.S. State Department released its annual Human Rights Report. “Harassment and violence against individual journalists continued [in Azerbaijan],” the report read. Underlining the deterioration of the situation of the freedom of expression, the section of annual report on Republic of Azerbaijan lists and described numerous cases of intimidation against journalists in the country in 2006. (11-MAR-07)

“When I am hit below the belt, it is difficult to think of ethics. I have developed my own code and this is not the code of a journalist, this is a code of guerilla war. We are not a media outlet. We are guerrillas,” said Elmar Huseynov in one of his last interviews to the BBC. Two years passed since the murder of Elmar Huseynov, Monitor Magazine Chief Editor, who was shot to death in the hallway outside his apartment; but the case remain unsolved and his murderers are still at large. (03-MAR-07)

Being an informal non-governmental campaign launched after the fraudulent presidential elections in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2003, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan Initiative aims at supporting the process of democratization and defends human rights in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The activists of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan Initiative commemorate the second anniversary of Elmar Huseynov’s murder by a picket in front of Azerbaijani Embassy in the Republic of Poland and the statement, addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Ms. Anna Fotyga’s prior to her visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. (02-MAR-07)
 

30 May, the Warsaw Regional Court held a hearing regarding Miroslaw Sielatycki, the former director of the National In-Teacher Training Center dismissed over Compass. The Court ruled Mr. Sielatycki was wrongfully dismissed and awarded compensation. The matter of Miroslaw Sielatycki was covered by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights Strategic Litigation Program. (31-MAY-07)

Moroccan internet users have been unable to access YouTube since last week, amid fears that the country´s government is imposing restrictions on independent media. State authorities blame a technical glitch but bloggers suspect an attempt to stifle pro-independence protesters in Western Sahara. Latest: YouTube is back on, with Maroc Telecom representatives siting a technical problem as the cause. (30-MAY-07)
 

Despite official pledges, harassment of journalists and censorship are still prevalent, says Human Rights Watch in a fresh press release on the media situation in the People´s Republic of China ahead of next year’s Beijing olympics. -The Chinese government is backtracking on new rules that allow much greater freedom to foreign journalists, and is continuing to deny comparable freedoms to Chinese journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. (31-MAY-07)
 

On May 29, Belarusian court announced verdict to the members of unregistered organization Young Front. 5 young people were under the threat of being convinced for 2 years of prison. The judge fined Zmicer Hvedaruk(right), Aliaksei Yanushevski, Aleg Korban and Baris Garecki and imposed the court warning to Nasta Palazhanka. Belarusian democratic society together with the international human rights movement made every effort not to let Republic of Belarus have more prisoners of conscience. (30-MAY-07)
 

Freedom House in Seoul launched on 21 May a new report detailing the Kim Jong Il regime´s crimes against humanity. Based on recent interviews with former North Korean political prisoners in the kwan-li-so or “control zone” labor camps, Concentrations of Inhumanity details the criminal acts that are being carried out in North Korea on a massive scale. (30-MAY-07)