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The Kyrgyzstani authorities are obliged to establish the truth about what happened. They must provide justice for the thousands of victims of the serious crimes and human rights violations, including crimes against humanity. Otherwise failure to deliver justice for the killing, rape and torture of civilians could lead to further clashes, Amnesty International warned on of the first anniversary of the violence that shook southern parts of Kyrgyzstan.

Last week Kazakhstan deported to China an ethnic Uyghur wanted by Beijing for speaking up on torture and death in Chinese jails, placing his life in jeopardy. Ershidin Israil, 38, had sought sanctuary in Kazakhstan after fleeing his home in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as he was pursued by Chinese authorities who accuse him of “terrorism.”

On 12 June 2011 there will be a parliamentary election in Turkey. The 1994 Rafto Prize laureate, Kurdish, Leyla Zana, is again a candidate for election to the Turkish Parliament. Having a conviction with a three year prison sentence hanging over her, she hopes that the election can lead to a Civil, Democratic and Liberalistic Constitution.

Freedom House downgraded Ukraine from Free to Partly Free in its “Freedom in the World 2011 rankings”. Until that point, Ukraine had been the only non-Baltic former Soviet state ranked in the Free category. International experts remark that new president’s government reveals authoritarian tendencies in the country. The negative effects have included a more restrictive environment for the media, selective prosecution of opposition figures, etc.

On the eve of its 50th anniversary Amnesty International launched its global human rights report. The report documents specific restrictions on free speech in at least 89 countries, highlights cases of prisoners of conscience in at least 48 countries, documents torture and other ill-treatment in at least 98 countries, and reports on unfair trials in at least 54 countries.

The world’s worst online oppressors are using an array of tactics, some reflecting astonishing levels of sophistication, others reminiscent of old-school techniques. All online oppressors are nations with long records of repression but now they have swiftly adapted old strategies to the online world, a new special report by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says.

Amnesty International together with some 270 other non governmental organizations across Europe, among them the Human Rights House Foundation, has signed a petition opposing the imposition of fees on applicants seeking justice in the European Court of Human Rights. After an inter-governmental conference examining proposed reforms to the Court. European Amnesty International said leaders must protect the independence and integrity of the Court.

26 April 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe. Gennady Grushevoy, the 1999 Rafto Prize laureate from Belarus, and the organisation ”Children of Chernobyl” mark the event with a peace tour from Belarus to Geneva and candle action.

A judgment handed down on 15 April 2011 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicting two Croatian generals of responsibility for crimes against humanity is a strong victory for Croatia’s war victims and shows that even the most high-level perpetrators of crimes under international law cannot evade justice.