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The Council of Europe has not got any positive impact on the human rights situation in the Republic of Armenia Mikael Danielyan, the leader of the Armenian Helsinki Association for Human Rights said at a conference organised by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and NUPI, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs 17th of November. (22-NOV-04)

On 14 October, after waiting nearly 10 years, Leyla Zana was able to personally collect the 1995 European Parliament´s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. (19-NOV-04)
 

According to a report published by “The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers” this week, as many as 14,000 child soldiers had been recruited by paramilitaries and armed opposition groups in Colombia. Women and girls constituted up to half of all recruits to armed opposition groups. (18-NOV-04)
 

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) has condemned the Azerbaijani authorities´ freezing of the assets of “Yeni Musavat”, the country´s main opposition daily, on 16 November 2004. The move has forced the paper to cease publishing. The decision was taken on the grounds that the newspaper failed to pay fines and damages totalling some 125,000 euros.   (18 NOV 2004)
 

– There´s no hope for an open dialogue with President Robert Mugabe, said Morgan Tsvangirai, Leader of ´Movement for Democratic Change´ (MDC), yesterday. Mr Tsvangirai leads the most important opposition party in Zimbabwe and visited the Human Rights house in Oslo yesterday as part of a tour of Northern Europe to inform both state and civil society authorities about the situation in a country that used to be the beacon of hope for Africa.
 

-There´s no hope for an open dialogue with President Robert Mugabe, said Morgan Tsvangirai, Leader of ´Movement for Democratic Change´ (MDC), yesterday. Mr Tsvangirai leads the most important opposition party in Zimbabwe and visited the Human Rights house in Oslo yesterday as part of a tour of Northern Europe to inform both state and civil society authorities about the situation in a country that used to be the beacon of hope for Africa. (18-NOV-04)
  

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) has condemned the Azerbaijani authorities´ freezing of the assets of “Yeni Musavat”, the country´s main opposition daily, on 16 November 2004. The move has forced the paper to cease publishing. The decision was taken on the grounds that the newspaper failed to pay fines and damagestotalling some 125 000 euros .(18-NOV-04)
 

On 17-21 November, the Days of Equality and Tolerance are held in Poznan. The culminating point of the event is going to be the Equality March planned for 20 November. The City Mayor issued the permit to organise the march, however, the right wing local government activists are protesting, claiming that the march is an “endorsement of homosexuality”. (17-11-04)
 

The regular Annual General Meeting of the International Helsinki Federation, held in Moscow on 11-14 November, has elected the new management of the International Helsinki Federation for the next two years. The new President is Ulrich Fischer from Germany, a longstanding expert in human rights, who was a member of and later worked for the German Bundestag, and Vice President is Srdjan Dizdarevic, the founder and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and President of the Managing Board of the Human Rights House of Sarajevo. (17-NOV-04)
 

On 17-21 November, the Days of Equality and Tolerance are held in Poznan. The culminating point of the event is going to be the Equality March planned for 20 November. The City Mayor issued the permit to organise the march, however, the right wing local government activists are protesting, claiming that the march is an “endorsement of homosexuality”. (17-11-04)

– The second phase of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic, defined by the Russian Federation as a “counter-terrorist operation” has lasted five years. Civilians represent the primary victims of this conflict, and blatant violations of human rights and humanitarian law have been pervasive. The climate of impunity dominates the situation in and around the Chechen Republic, reads an appeal from the International Helsinki Federation to the EU. (17-NOV-04)
 

Human Rights Center “Viasna” has already prepared “Preliminary monitoring on facts of tortures and other inhumane treatment of citizens of Belarus”, based on the principles of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The English version of the report will be soon available at the “Viasna” site: www.spring96.org (16-NOV-04)