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Between the 13th and the 15th of September, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights hosted a visit of 11 attorneys from Dniepropietrowsk, Ukraine. They belonged to the Foundation of Constitutional and Civil Rights, and to the District Association of Attorneys. (23-SEP-05)

On 9 September, representatives from the international human rights community came together to issue a joint press statement, expressing their concern for the treatment of independent journalists, political activists, and human rights defenders in the Republic of Azerbaijan. They also called for free and fair elections, due to take place on 6 November. (23-SEPT-05)
 

On 21 September 2005, Trial Chamber III granted the Prosecution’s motion to join six cases involving nine of the highest-ranking officers of the Bosnian Serb Army. The charges against the accused relate to the forced removal of the Bosnian Muslim population from the Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves in Eastern Bosnia. It said the trial would avoid duplication, ensure consistency and lessen the hardship for witnesses. One of the nine suspects, Zdravko Tolimir, is still on the run, but the other eight are in custody. No trial date was announced. (23-SEP-05)

Human rights defenders in Serbia including Sonja Biserko, the chairwoman of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia are being subjected to more physical violence, threats, and hate speech in the media than ever before, according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) in Vienna, which counts the Helsinki Committee among its 44 affiliates throughout the OSCE region. (22-SEP-05)
 

The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for 2005 is awarded to the Chechnyan lawyer and human rights advocate Ms Lida Yusupova, in recognition of her brave and unrelenting efforts to document human rights violations and act as a spokeswoman for the forgotten victims of the war in the Chechen Republic. The Rafto Foundation is among the organisations based at the Egil Rafto Human Rights House in Bergen, Norway. (22-SEP-05)
  

Azeri authorities must stop the harassment of independent journalists, political activists and human rights defenders. This is  the message in a statement from the Human Rights House Network in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Poland, Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republic of Croatia, England, Republic of Kenya and Republic of Uganda, the Swedish Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Defenders Office of the International Service for Human Rights adopted 8 September in Baku. (22-SEP-05)
 

From both Frontline, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and International PEN, www.humanrightshouse.org has received the following urgent action appeal regarding the case of lawyer and human rights defender Mohammed Maherzi Abou. Please write Tunisian authorities on addresses provided below, requesting Abou’s immediate and unconditional release. (21-SEP-05)
  

A UN special reporter was banned entry to the country because his mission is to collect information about the human rights in the Republic of Belarus. Instead, he will visit the Baltic states where he is going to meet representatives of the government and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations. (19-SEP-05)
 

New chair of the Pinsk ideology department forces heads of organizations and enterprises to subscribe to Sovetskaya Belorussiya, a pro-governmental newspaper. Simultaneously, Miastsovy Chas weekly, the only independent newspaper is banned. (19-SEP-05)
 

The Norwegian government´s decision not to abide by UNHCR guidelines regarding return to unsafe areas is among many areas that seven Norwegian NGOs criticize in a supplementary report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee last week. The report is an independent examination of Norway’s 5th Periodic Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (19-SEP-05)
Download PDF version of the Shadow Report
 

The Rafto Human Rights House is very pleased to be able to present a special human rights programme at the Nordic Panorama 2005 (23 – 28 September), in close co-operation with two of the leading international film festivals dedicated to human rights documentaries: One World in Prague, and Human Rights in Film in Warsaw.  (18-SEP-2005)

ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, is inviting appplications for a one¨Cweek intensive training course on theoretical and practical aspects of promoting freedom of expression and freedom of information in the South Caucasus. The course, developed in conjunction with journalists, freedom of information centers, and human rights organisations from the region, will take place in Kyiv from 22 to 27 November 2005. (16-SEPT-05)