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The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights organized on February 27 at the Aquarius Club a humanitarian concert for victims of human rights violations.  A number of very popular bands and DJs from all over Republic of Croatia performed onstage and entire contribution of well-attended concert was dedicated to providing direct help to the human rights victims. (1-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 the newspaper 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)
 
 

Resolution, Seoul, February 16, 2005:
We have gathered for the 6th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees from the countries of France, Republic of Poland, Norway, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, as well as defectors from the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea, to affirm to the people of the world, especially to the people of the Democratic People´s Republic of North Korea, that they are entitled to the same freedoms, democratic values and human rights enjoyed by free people everywhere and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (28-FEB-2005)

The 6th international conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees was held in Seoul February 14th – 16th. The conference confirmed the growing concern for the human rights condition in North Korea, and the 200 participants represented academia, NGOs, and governmental organisations. The Egil Rafto House Foundation will host the 7th conference, which is to be held in Bergen in 2006. Important meetings and workshops with key participants will be arranged in Oslo by the Human Rights House Foundation. (28-FEB-2005)

Jailed Sierra Leonean journalist Paul Kamara has been moved to solitary confinement. Following reports that he has been threatened with violence by army officers, his wife has expressed fears for his life. (28-FEB-05)
 

Today, Sharon Critoph, campaigner on Guantanamo and International Law at Amnesty International’s (AI) headquarters in London, talked to the Norwegian Human Rights House in Oslo about AI?s work to secure fair trials or release of all the post 9/11 Guantanamo detainees. Critoph emphasised the detrimental effect on human rights that Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo have had. (28-FEB-05)
   

Four members of the Human Rights House Network were in Seoul recently together with representatives from eleven countries to “affirm to the people of the world, especially to the people of the Democratic People´s Republic of North Korea, that they are entitled to the same freedoms, democratic values and human rights enjoyed by free people everywhere and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” (28-FEB-05)
 

Corruption is one of the most serious and unsurmountable problem of transitional period of Azerbaijan. “The OSCE intends to assist Republic of Azerbaijan in fighting corruption”, head of the OSCE office in Baku Mauricio Pavesi told a roundtable, “Government agencies combating corruption”, organized by Republic of Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Union (AYLU). In a recent survey conducted by the OSCE office in Baku among over a thousand people, 87% of respondents indicated the high corruption level in the Republic of Azerbaijan. (25-FEB-2005)

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian Federation committed serious abuses, including the torture and killing of civilians, during its military offensives against separatists in the Chechen Republic. (24-FEB-05)
 
 

Human Rights Watch has accused the Russian Federation of establishing a regime of terror in breakaway Chechnya, with widespread kidnapping, torture and murder. According to the watchdog, Chechen civilians are being abducted at the rate of two a day by the authorities for interrogation purposes, the British Independent newspaper reported. The allegations came after Human Rights Watch carried out a two-week investigation in the Chechen Republic. (24-FEB-05)
 

At a meeting in Stavanger, Norway this week, representatives from Norwegian, European and North-American cities of asylum for persecuted writers agreed to establish a new, international network. (25-FEB-05)
 

Norwegian PEN and several international freedom of expression- and human rights organizations protest the continuing harassment of writers and publishers in the Republic of Turkey. On March 2, a delegation will monitor two court cases in Istanbul and Ankara. (25-FEB-05)