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Elmar Huseynov, a prominent journalist and chief editor of the outspoken opposition journal MONITOR, was brutally killed at the entrance of his apartment on Wednesday. Human rights groups and journalists fear he was murdered for his critical articles on government officials and President Aliyevs’ family.(4-MAR-05)
 
 

While Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik warns private investors against getting involved in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), the Norwegian Petroleum Fund, a state entity established and controlled by the Norwegian Parliament, has Total Oil, outed on this website last week as one of the worst blind-eye silent collaborators to the Burmese regime?s gross human rights violations, as its biggest investment. The two biggest opposition parties want Bondevik to stop all co-operation, direct or indirect, with one of the world?s worst regime?s in human rights terms. (3-MAR-05)
  

The world´s largest HR defending organization “Amnesty International” made a statement to the Government of the Russian Federation with an appeal to take urgent measures on suppression of the further infringements of human rights in a context of confrontation in Chechen Republic. They ask to investigate all applications of human rights infringement cases and to give suspected infringements to the court. (02-MAR-05)
 
 

It is now a done deal. A part of the “Marshal Tito” base, which has been planed to be a new university campus with all facilities for better life of students, is cheaply sold to the United States for building the embassy facility. This is the greatest robbery in the history of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (02-MAR-05)

The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has decided to support the removal of all mines in populated areas by 2009. Today, the country is one of the world´s most affected. (02-MAR-05)
 

Remzi Kartal, the Kurdish politician and human rights defender for whom the Norwegian Council for the Rights of Kurdish People (RKR) and the Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) appealed last week, has been released from custody in Germany with guarantees that he will not be extradited to Republic of Turkey. (02-MAR-05)
   

Four months after being awarded the Rafto Memorial Prize, Rebiya Kadeer (picture) finally received the news last month. She cried with joy, her son Mustafa Rouzi told Bergens Tidende. 58 year old Kadeer is currently in prison. For years she has been fighting for the Uyghur minority’s basic rights in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. (01-MAR-2005)
 

On 27 February unknown people in civil clothes detained the former deputy of the Chamber of Representatives, Siarhei Skrabets in Hrodna. The activist of the Businessmen’s Association Perspective, Leanid Nevar was arrested in the town of Rechytsa.(1-MAR-2005)

On 21 February Ms. Sakalouskaya, a judge of the Supreme Court, ruled to liquidate the public association Belarusian Women’s Movement Adradzhenne Aichyny (Homeland’s Revival).
On 25 February Mahiliou Regional Department of Justice warned the women’s public association Liubava in Horki. (1-MAR-2005)

At its sitting on 22 February the Council of the Union of Belarusian Writers rejected the ultimatum of the Presidential Office heads which had earlier requested that the organization leave most of the premises they now occupy in the House of Writers. The Presidential Office response runs as follows, “They are not being thrown out into the street, it´s just that they´ve been offered smaller premises than they currently occupy”. The Presidential Office requested that the Union of Writers occupy 10 times less area of the House of Writers than they do now: 58 square meters instead of 614. (1-MAR-2005)

Fines remain a useful means of persecution. Two persons have been recently fined by the court in connection with their political activity. (1-MAR-2005)

In February 2005 Belarusian prosecutor’s offices of different levels increased the pressurization of well-known oppositional activists. Most often people are summoned concerning criminal cases brought for defamation of president or the authorities or dissemination of undesirable information. (01-MAR-2005)