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The Azeri penitentiary system is one of the most closed spheres even despite democratization of the state system and joining of the country to numerous conventions. Nevertheless, the things impossible during Soviet times or during the initial period of independence are possible today. There almost is not any serious obstacle for visiting of the jails by the human rights activists and journalist unions and the representatives of the international organizations.  (12-NOV-2004)
 

Torture, persecution, kidnapping, harassment and other pressure mechanisms are frequent cases that Azerbaijani opposition-minded journalists, political party activists and human right defenders expose to, although the Azerbaijani government has ratified Convention against Torture of UN in August 1996 and Convention against Torture of European Council in December 2001. (12-NOV-2004)
 

Every week, the HRH Secretariat receives an update on the Mugabe regime’s most recent attacks on Zimbawean media, in other words on the most organised and wide-reaching, regular attempts to exercise the universally acknowledged and agreed human right to freedom of speech and expression. www.humanrightshouse.org will from now on publish extracts of this report. (12-NOV-04) 
  

Recently, a mass grave was found in the north of Diyarbakir, the Kurdish newspaper, Welat, reports. According to the newspaper, this is not done by Saddam, but by the Turkish Army, maybe only ten years ago. It is claimed that the corpses belong to the villagers who were taken under custody during an operation which was hold by Turkish Army in 1993. No one has received any news from them since they were arrested. The bound and the stuff in the grave are delivered to the Puplic persecutor. (11-NOV-2004)

The consequences if the Zimbabwean Parliament passes the proposed law to control NGOs and their activities next week will be very serious, says Tor-Hugne Olsen of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. The NGOs will be left with three opportunities; either leaving the country to operate from outside, merge with legal organisations, that is, organisations registered under the old, Ian Smith era legislation, or go underground and continue working illegally. (11-NOV-04)
 

Index on Censorship reports on a EU ruling which jeopardises a journalist´s right to protect sources. (10-NOV-04)
 

The MP Roy Bennett was recently subjected to severe mistreatment simply for exercising his democratic right to oppose the country´s Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa in a parlimentary debate in May. Please read the statement on the incident issued jointly by the Bar Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. (10-NOV-04)
 

Yesterday, the independent national Ugandan daily the Monitor once again emphasized that the mortality rate in northern Republic of Uganda is an “emergency out of control”. Among the organisations claiming this, is the international medical relief organisations Médecins Sans Frontières, writes the Monitor’s journalist Peter Nyanzi.

Typical of the alarming development HRH and other international human rights NGOs have observed in many countries, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is now clearly joining the ranks of presidents who in recent years have found new ways and also increased their efforts to silence their own civil societies. Please read the statement from the Conectas IV International Colloquium on Human Rights recently held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (10-NOV-04)
 

The United Nations human rights envoy for Burma says he doubts the country will undergo the political reform necessary to achieve democracy. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said Monday it would be, in his words, a “miracle” if the country´s leaders implement the so-called “road map” to democracy unveiled by Burma´s military government last year. (10-NOV-04)
 

With zero sense of irony, and equally blinkered regarding the possibility that this might strike back on themselves, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has issued a statement doubting the transparency and democracy of the recent presidential elections in the USA. The irregularities of the almost as recent presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus are thoroughly documented on this website. (10-NOV-04)
 

Shirin Ebadi has filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department for preventing her from publishing her autobiography in the United States, reports PEN American Center (PEN). The law suit follows Ebadi´s participation at the Human Rights House Network´s conference ´Activists under Attack. Defending the Right to be a Human Rights Defender,´ held in Oslo mid-October, during which Ebadi met the Norwegian PEN centre, a member of the Oslo Human Rights House, and announced her intentions to sue the US government. (10-NOV-04)