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The electoral campaign in the Republic of Belarus started more than three weeks ago. During this time the police detained more than 200 persons. More than 20 of them (including Valiantsin Viachorka, the chair of the BPF Party and the proxy of the candidate to the presidential position Aliaksandr Milinkevich) were sentenced to 15 days of arrest by ‘fair and independent courts’. (13-MAR-06)
 

The US State Department released a report on Republic of Azerbaijan for 2005. According to the secretary the Azerbaijan’s November parliamentary elections, while an improvement in some areas, failed to meet a number of international standards. There were numerous credible reports of local officials interfering with the campaign process and misusing state resources, limited freedom of assembly, disproportionate use of force by police to disrupt rallies, and fraud and major irregularities in vote counting and tabulation. Thus far, additional actions taken during the post-election grievance process have not fully addressed the shortcomings of the electoral process”. (12-MAR-2006)
 

Letter by the HFHR Board regarding refugees from the Chechen Republic to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (10-MAR-06)

– To exercise the right to a home in this society is equal to an “act of heroism” even for “ordinary” citizens, but particularly for the Roma population. This sometimes borders with the impossible, despite its in fact being a fundamental right, says Branka Inic (right) Lawyer in the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (10-MAR-06)

Born at a time of great social turbulence and crisis in early 20th century, the International Women’s Day inherited a tradition of protest, political activism and solidarity. The women all over the world celebrate the women’s day on the 8-th of March and focus on their equality and full participation. The theme of International Women´s Day for 2006 is “Women in decision-making: meeting challenges, creating change”. (09-MAR-2006)
 

Three unidentified men abducted a reporter Fikret Huseynli from the Azerbaijani opposition newspaper Azadlig on Sunday night, beating him, breaking some of his fingers, and slashing him. The attack on the journalist was likely related to his work, as he recently received several anonymous telephone threats after writing articles on bribe-taking among senior government officials and criminal activities involving wealthy business people. The Committee to Protect Journalists called the authorities to undertake a through and impartial investigation. (07-MAR-2006)
 

The 6 March a bill against sexual discrimination was discussed in Duma.By tradition there is a tolerant attitude toward violation of equality of men’s and women’s rights in the Russian Federation. It’s one of the reasons of unequal representation of women in the ruling clique and in the highest ranks, of violation of women’s labour rights and spreading of sexual violence. Contrary to the Constitution, state and private undertakings  practice discrimination against women. (09-MAR-06)
 

On the 6th of March Belarusian population had a rare chance to get  to alternative information by listening an appeal of the candidates to the presidential positions on the radio. But republican  radio station illegally cut some parts out of these speeches  while broadcasting oppositional appeal to Belarusian electorate.(09-MARCH-06)

The women of Bosnia and Herzegovina will, once again, on this 8 March raise their voice and say out loud that they want their human rights. Their position today is extremely difficult and not at all enviable. Women are discriminated against to a great extent in all spheres of life. They will, on this particular date, perhaps get a rose or a gift, instead of an apology. This small manifestation of attention will surely not improve their situation. (08-MAR-06)
 

An estimated three million women and girls undergo female genital mutilation each year, according to a 2005 Unicef report. For many Europeans and Americans, these are three million female victims we should feel sorry for or donate to, or perhaps read a book about a girl who survived this practice thousands of miles away from the FGM-free shores of Europe – but not an issue that seems to effect our neighbors down the street, our fellow citizens across town, or even ourselves. But the reality is closer to home than we think. (08-MAR-06)
 

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)