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LONDON/04.03.05/TURAN: “We are profoundly saddened and angered by the murder of Elmar Huseinov” said Agnes Callamard, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19. “He was a man and a journalist of great courage and commitment. Today, the media in the Republic of Azerbaijan has lost an important critical  voice.”  ARTICLE 19 is particularly  concerned with the increasing climate of intolerance against the media, and with the failure of the Republic of Azerbaijan authorities to put an end to these attacks. (4-MAR-2005)
 

The German Evangelical Association Open Church has distinguished Halina Bortnowska-Dabrowska with the Amos Preis award. Bortnowska-Dabrowska is member of the Helsinki Committee in Poland. She was awarded for her long-term struggle for democracy and freedom in the Republic of Poland, commitment in the fight against racism and anti-Semitism, as well as activities in support of the Polish-German reconciliation. (04-MARCH-05)
 

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)
   

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)

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)