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The UN Commission on human rights “calls upon all States to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, and to ensure and maintain an environment conducive to the work of human rights defenders” in a resolution adopted during its last session in April 2005.
 

The Human Rights House Foundation welcomes the UN Commission of Human Rights’ adoption of the basic principles and guidelines on the right to a remedy and reparation for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law. (25-APR-05)
 

Throughout April, Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey?s most internationally acclaimed authors, has suffered threats from extremists calling for his books to be seized from public libraries and, in some cases, burned. At the same time, Adolf Hitler?s ?Mein Kampf? is once again a best-seller in the Republic of Turkey. From International PEN, HRH has received the following appeal on Pamuk?s behalf. (25-APR-05)
 

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), expresses its deepest concern about recent death threats against four executives of the Human Rights Association in the Republic of Turkey (Insan Haklari Dernegi – IHD).(25-APR-05)
 

After the 1 April welcoming by the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Security Council?s resolution 1593 (2005) referring the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Republic of the Sudan was always going to be among the most difficult issues at the recently concluded 61st session in Geneva. (25-APR-05)
   

The UN Commission on Human Rights concluded its annual session for 2005 on Friday in Geneva. The Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) followed debates in Geneva on impunity , North Korea, Republic of Uganda , Colombia , Republic of the Sudan , Republic of Belarus, and human rights defenders . (25-APR-05)
 

On Friday, the UN Commission on Human Rights expressed its alarm at reported violations of the rights to life, personal integrity, freedom and security, due process, privacy and intimacy, as well as reported breaches of fundamental freedoms of movement, residence, opinion and expression in Colombia. It adopted a so-called Chairperson´s Statement on the situation of human rights in Colombia. (25-APR-05)
 

British networks broadcast far-right British National Party (BNP) election propaganda ahead of the country´s 5 May elections despite the opposition of anti-fascist groups. For the BNP has qualified for the legal right to airtime for its election material, and as long as it passes technical standards and does not breach race hate or libel laws, the networks are obliged to show it. Index on Censorship’s Rohan Jayasekera reports. (26-APR-05)

In April, first Kiev (the Ukraine) and then three Polish cities: Torun, Olsztyn and Kielce are hosting the screenings of documentaries from the repertoire of the Warsaw-based International Film Festival „Human Rights in Film”, organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. (23-APR-05)

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights on Thursday censured North Korea for “widespread and grave violations” – including torture, executions and forced abortions – drawing a sharp rebuke from the secretive communist state. The resolution urged Pyongyang to cooperate with its special investigator on the Democratic Republic of Korea. (22-APR-2005)
 

In April, documentaries from the Warsaw-based International Film Festival „Human Rights in Film”, organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, will be set up in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and in three Polish cities. (22-APR-05)
 

The United Nations on Thursday censured North Korea for “widespread and grave violations” – including torture, executions and forced abortions – drawing a sharp rebuke from the secretive communist state. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights, whose 53 member states are holding an annual session, urged Pyongyang to cooperate with its special investigator on the Democratic Republic of Korea.  The resolution, brought by the European Union (EU) and Japan, was adopted by a vote of 30 countries in favor, nine against and 14 abstentions, including South Korea. (21-april-2005)