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Strong evidence has emerged of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Burma Army against the Karenni people. A draft report from Christian Solidarity Wordlwide International President Dr Martin Panter presents evidence of chemical weapons use during an incident which is alleged to have happened near Burma’s north western border with Thailand on 15 February. (29-APR-05)
 

In the most recent report on the war crime trials in Croatian courts, the OSCE mission to Republic of Croatia recognized improvement in Croatian judiciary. This improvement also brings a positive reflect on the willingnes of the Croatian courts to take over some of the ICTY cases, according to the ICTY Completion Strategy. However, the report underlines the neccesity of additional reforms in order to ensure impartial adjudication of war crimes in the Republic of Croatia. (29-APR-05)
 

A number of Azerbaijani human rights activists have met with the Norwegian parliamentarian Trond Giske (photo), the second Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Family, Cultural Affairs and Government Administration at the Norwegian Parliament.
 “We have updated Mr. Giske about the current problems of democratization, the deteriorating situation with human rights, the pressure on independent media on the eve of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan”, said Fuad Hasanov, director of the “Against Violence” Human Rights Center (AVHRC). (29-APR-2005)

Republic of Azerbaijan: “Independent journalists continue to be harassed. After the murder of one of the most prominent critical editor Elmar Huseinov, journalists  fear for their lives. Six months before holding of the parliamentary elections in November, some of the basic pre-conditions for holding free and fair elections – freedom of expression and the right to hold peaceful meetings – are not met”, reads a statement of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) (28-APR-2005).
 

“Independent journalists continue to be harassed and after the murder of one of the most prominent critical journalists Elmar Huseinov also fear for their lives. Six months before holding of the parliamentary elections, some of the basic pre-conditions for holding free and fair elections – freedom of expression and the right to hold peaceful meetings – are not met”,  reads a statement of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expressing concerns over the situation with the nearing parliamentary elections due November 6, 2005 in the Republic of Azerbaijan.  (28-APR-2005)

Moscow Helsinki Group led a training seminar for the Regional Ombudsmen apparatus for human rights and for the employees of the regional commissions for human rights in the Russian Federation. Ludmila Alexeeva, chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, and Alexander Daniel opened this arrangement with their lectures. (27-APR-2005)
 

On 15 – 17th of April the Moscow Helsinki Group led a training seminar for the employees of the Regional Ombudsmen apparatus for human rights and for employees of Regional commissions for human rights of the Russian Federation. (27-APR-05)
 

The Belarusian authorities do not want to see Adrian Severin in Minsk, said Foreign Minister of Republic of Belarus Siarhei Martynau on 18 April. According to Mr. Martynau, what Mr. Severin presented at the session of the Human Rights Committee was a compilation from the US State Department report rather than his own review. (26-APR-2005)

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina has on several occasions addressed the public and warned, the domestic institutions particularly, of the unreasonable decision to privatize the Ljubija/Omarska Coal Mine before the investigating bodies have completed their job concerning the circumstantial evidence indicating that on the location of the coal mine there are bodily remnants of people who had been taken captive during the war. (26-APR-05)
 

The six citizens known as the “Algerian Group”, who were extradited by the Bosnian authorities to the United States of America, have been detained in the Guantanamo base for over three years. Unfortunately, the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not, in the past three years, taken relevant steps, to help the six detainees, which include measures for their return to Bosnia and Herzegovina. (26-APR-05)
 

The massacres in Srebrenica constitute the first genocide in Europe to be recognised by an international legal mechanism since World War II. On 21 April, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee hosted a seminar on Srebrenica at the Norwegian Human Rights House. (26-APR-05)
 
 

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.