Latest

On the 6-th of October 2006, there was taken place re-run Municipal elections in 603 municipalities of Republic of Azerbaijan. The CEC and the Ombudsman states that the elections were conducted without serious violations, however the national and international observers piled up a long list of violations, from external interference to the voting up to the mismatch of the number of voted people and ballot papers from the ballot boxes. “The local democracy is not formed in the Republic of Azerbaijan yet” thinks the Congress Mission of the Council of Europe. (11-OCT-06)
 

The Human Rights House Baku, was deeply saddened by the news of assassination of the journalist and writer Anna Politkovskaya on the 7-th of October at the door of her house. Having the similar sad cases in the history of Azerbaijani press, the HRH Baku joined the efforts of the international community to call the Russian authorities to conduct a just and thorough investigation on the case. The statement of the HRH Baku was sent to the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Azerbaijan. (09-OCT-06)
 

On the 3-rd of October 2006, the satiric journalist Sakit Zahidov, made his final statement in the court. Zahidov has been well known in the society for his sharp critics against the Aliyev regime and his case, decorated under the drug-dealt case, has been recognized by the national and international human rights defenders as a political order. The full text of his final statement is given below. (06-OCT-06)
 

The satirical journalist, Sakit Zahidov, with a politically-motivated criminal drug case, was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment after 3,5 months of arrest. The efforts of national and international organizations could only bring to the “generous” change from the 12 years of imprisonment for the drug dealing to 36 months of imprisonment of the father of five children (wife’s photo on the right), who in reality was guilty of disclosing the high ranking officials in corruption. (5-OCT-2006)

Over the last year, the Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press in the Republic of Azerbaijan has caught the attention of the local and international community. The persecution and arrest of journalists, countless trials and lack of partiality, threatens to turn Azerbaijan’s independent press outlets and independent journalists into endangered species. Currently, there are 3 imprisoned journalists, 2 journalists on probation and dozens of journalists regularly threatened, attacked or persecuted. The number of murdered journalists within the last the two years is two. (3-OCT-2006)

-In the Chechen Republic, Russian policemen get accustomed to doing anything they want to prisoners, says anti-torture-campaigner Igor Kalyapin, right. -These impulses they then bring back into the Russian police and court system where torture is already a well established method. (14-OCT-06)
 

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has sent the letter to the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Poland encouraging a full and prompt investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of Anna Politkovskaya as well as punishment of not only the perpetrators but also those standing behind them. (13-OCT-06)
 

The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) is appealing to the Russian government to allow UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, to visit its North Caucasus region on terms already agreed. (05-OCT-06)
 
 

Amnesty International has called on President Vladimir Putin to condemn the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and show that there can be no impunity for such crimes. This would demonstrate his support for human rights defenders and independent journalists and the vital and legitimate role they play in Russian society. (13-OCT-06) 
 

27 September Min Ko Naing, right, the famous student leader from the people´s uprising in 1988, was arrested together with two other student leaders. A few days later, three more activists were detained. Below, please find the links to petitions you can sign to support the demand towards Burmese authorities to release the student leaders. (13-OCT-06)
   

On October, 7th, on the 54-th anniversary of Vladimir Putin, internationally known Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed in Moscow. Anna Politkovskya was rather more the human rights activist than a journalist – it wasn’t enough for her just to write about people’s problems, she helped to solve these problems. (12-OCT-06)
 

As Islamic Republic of Iran returns to the forefront of the worlds’ political consciousness it is not just its uranium enrichment that continues to attract attention, but also its poor record on human rights and freedom of speech. Islamic Republic of Iran, labelled the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East, came 164th in the 2005 worldwide press freedom index, taking it into the top 5 most repressive regimes in the world. The recent imprisonment of Isa Sahakhiz, pictured right, and the ban issued against the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights are two recent cases in point. (11-OCT-06)