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To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, Norwegian PEN is focusing, together with other PEN Centres, on the case of Mexican writer and journalist Lydia Cacho, right. Cacho currently faces trial under charges of criminal defamation related to her exposure of the connection between prominent businessmen and a child pornography in her latest book. (08-MAR-06)
 

Journalists working in Serbia & Montenegro continue to have their right to free expression violated. Following a United Nations Human Rights Committee ruling on 23 January, ARTICLE 19 has called for the removal of defamation from the criminal law books. The Committee ruled that use of criminal law in the case of Bodrozic versus Serbia & Montenegro supressed valid criticism of public officials and violated the journalist’s right to freedom of expression. The Committee was particularly critical of the use of the criminal ‘insult’ provisions. (07-MAR-06)

Journalists working in Serbia & Montenegro continue to have their right to free expression violated. Following a United Nations Human Rights Committee ruling on 23 January, ARTICLE 19 has called for the removal of defamation from the criminal law books. The Committee ruled that use of criminal law in the case of Bodrozic versus Serbia & Montenegro supressed valid criticism of public officials and violated the journalist’s right to freedom of expression. The Committee was particularly critical of the use of the criminal ‘insult’ provisions. (07-MAR-06)
 

Though one year passed since the murder of the journalist of Elmar Huseynov, the official investigation has not been completed yet.  The public opinion in Republic of Azerbaijan is that it is not in favor of the government to open up the case because as the widow of the journalist said “I remain sure that someone among the authorities did order the assassination of my husband”. On the 1-st anniversary of Elmar Huseynov’s murder there were organized several events commemorating the journalist as well as discussing and criticizing the slow investigation of the case. (03-MAR-2006)
 

The murder of the 38-year-old Elmar Huseynov, editor-in-chief of the independent magazine “Monitor,” on 2 March 2005 shocked the Azerbaijani and international community. The popular journalist and analyst with the critical standpoint to the government was shot seven times by a pistol on the threshold of his apartment, therefore, lots of people were certain that Huseynov’s murder was the handiwork of the authorities. (02-MAR-2006)

The government’s violent dispersal of a peaceful rally held by the “Azadlig” Election Bloc and other political powers on November 26, 2005 had serious resonance both in this country and in the international arena. Azerbaijan’s human rights organizations and well-known legal specialists decided to create a Public Investigation Commission, which held the careful investigation since November and released the report in the end of February. (01-MAR-2006)

27-28 February the meeting of Human Rights Houses contact persons took place in Moscow. Participants discussed main principles of development of the web-site, which presents a reflection of current work, strengthening relations and most important problems in the sphere of international human rights movement. (04-MAR-06)

Kenyans on Thursday 2 March woke up to the shocking news of a brutal police raid on the standard media group premises in which the Republic of Kenya Television Network (KTN) was put off air, their newspaper printing plant disabled and tens of thousands  of the days copies of newspapers burned. Right, the special edition of the 2 March Standard Newspaper reporting the police raid. (04-MAR-06)
 

On the first of March, a criminal case for tax evasion, against the chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), Tatiana Protko, was resumed. During the prosecution the last republican Human Rights association might be liquidated and BHC leaders are threatened with seven years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. (04-MARCH-06)

Open letter by the HFHR Board regarding “secret prisons” to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (03-MAR-06)

The Norwegian Oil Fund has sold almost 70% of its shares in the French oil company Total. The Norwegian Burma Committee (NBC), which has been campaigning against the Fund’s investments in Total because of its contested activities in the military-ruled Asian country, is pleased. “This is very good news,” says Marte Graff Jenssen of NBC. (03-MAR-06)
 

The Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights demands that the Polish government gives full openness to the Council of Europe. The human rights watchdog has been investigating claims of illegal detentions and transport of prisoners by the CIA on European territory. It considers the information received by Republic of Poland as “disappointing and inadequate”. (03-MAR-06)