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The latest OSCE status report recognizes this capacity increase as a result of the ongoing political reforms and a demonstration of the Government?s renewed commitment to fulfil its international obligations. As a consequence of the reforms, the progress in the development of political institutions in the Republic of Croatia, especially the police and the judiciary, as well as media has been noted. (19-NOV-05)

A court in Banja Luka has sentenced Dragan Radakovic, Drasko Krndija and Radoslav Knezevic, three former members of the Bosnian Serb police, to prison time ranging from 15 to 20 years for war crimes, i.e. murders of six Bosnian Muslim civilians during the war. This is the first verdict for war crimes at a court in Republika Srpska since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended ten years ago. (18-NOV-05)

The Human Rights Monitoring Manual by Marek Nowicki and Zuzanna Fialova was translated to and published in Spanish. The publication was the result of the cooperation between Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) and Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, Costa Rica. (18-NOV-05)

Norwegian journalists protest against total state clamp down on Belarusian private media. -The decision of the state-owned newspaper distribution company, Belposhta, to cease distribution of privately owned papers during the Presidential election year, is another serious blow to freedom of expression in the Republic of Belarus says Ann-Magrit Austenaa, right, president of the Norwegian Union of Journalists. Read the letter below (20-NOV-05).
 

The British human rights expert Prof. Bill Bowring was sceduled to monitor the trial of Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) leader Stanislav Dimitrievskii in Nizhny Novgorod, but was refused entry to the Russian Federation without any explanation. Amnesty International is calling for the charges of Dimitrievskii to be dropped. The trial is postponed to the 25th of November. (18-NOV-05).
 

The International War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia acquitted Wednesday in The Hague former commander of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 53-year-old Sefer Halilovic (right), of charges of responsibility for murders of Croat civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. (17-NOV-05)

As the World Summit on the Information Society opens today in Tunis, Tunisia continues to jail individuals for expressing their opinions on the Internet and suppress Web sites critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said in a comprehensive new report on the repression of Internet users in the Middle East and North Africa. (15-NOV-05)
 

Adrian Severin, United Nations human rights envoy urged Belarusian authorities to investigate the murders of the journalists Vieranika Charkasava, right, and Vasil Hrodnikau and end “systematic harassment and persecution” of non-state media. He also called on authorities to ensure respect for the right to freedom of opinion and expression. (14-NOV-05)
 

“The authorities didn’t miss the opportunity to mislead the international community”, — that’s how Zinaida Hanchar, wife of the kidnapped politician Viktar Hanchar, commented on the statement of Belarusian MPs made at the 113th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva. As a result of Mr. Salauiou’s statement about the “resumption of Hanchar’s case” the wife of the missing politician applied to IPU President Pier Ferdinando Casini. (17-NOV-05)

United Nations human rights envoy Adrian Severin urges Belarusian authorities to investigate the murders of the journalists Vasil Hrodnikau, right, last month and Vieranika Charkasava in October last year, and to end the “systematic harassment and persecution” of non-state media. (14-NOV-05)
 

Two people were shot dead and two others seriously injured when police broke up an Orange rally in Likoni, Mombasa, yesterday. Cabinet ministers Raila Odinga (right) and Najib Balala were caught up in the violence that left several people injured and two vehicles burnt. (13-NOV-05)
 

On 25 October in Strasbourg, ambassador Piotr Switalski – a representative of the Polish government at the Council of Europe – signed the revised European Social Charter. Now this document must be ratified by the Polish parliament.  (11-NOV-05)