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Amnesty International launched “Report 2010: State of the World’s Human Rights”, which documents abuses in 159 countries. The organization said that powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient.

The new chairperson of the Rafto Foundation’s Board of Directors is Anne Kloster Holst (43). She is an adviser at the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU) in Bergen. The new chairperson expressed a strong desire to to help the Rafto Foundation continue its positive development.

The Moroccan-EFTA free trade agreement does not cover Western Sahara, according to Norwegian and Swiss authorities. This will have multi-million euro consequences for a Norwegian firm that systematically mislabeled Western Sahara imports as Moroccan, and illustrates how the European Commission is on collision course with rest of the international community. This case follows Western Sahara phosphate export scandals in last two years.

Tibetan writer Tagyal (pen-name Shogdung) was arrested on 23 April 2010 in the People´s Republic of China after criticising the authorities in an open letter. Tagyal may be held solely for peacefully exercising his right to free expression which is protected under Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the People´s Republic of China is a signatory.

An early February morning in 2003, the apartment of the family Al-Arian stormed by the FBI. Shocked family members, as father, Sami, being led away in handcuffs by armed U.S. law enforcement. In 12 hours crawled the tens of FBI agents, the family’s apartmen. Private papers, diaries, letters, books, photo albums, CDs and video tapes were seized. That evening news programs showed the whole world a news conference from Washington, where former Attorney General John Ashcroft said that they had arrested one of the main men behind a global terrorist cell in Tampa, Florida.

The Left Party of Sweden (Vänsterpartiet) has recalled its decision to recognise the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), during its 38th Congress, if it wins the September 19 elections together with the Social democratic Party and Green Party, in what is now known as the ‘Red-Green Coalition,’ according to a statement of the Polisario Representation in Sweden.

A jailed Syrian lawyer, who has defended leading opposition figures in his homeland, has won Martin Ennals price – an international award for human rights defenders. Muhannad al-Hassani, detained since July, is the second laureate from Syria in five years to be awarded the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.

Rebiya Kadeer, Uyghur human rights defender, the 2004 Rafto Prize laureate, and Lidia Yusupova, Chechen human rights advocate, the 2005 Rafto Prize laureate, were among the speakers at the Oslo Freedom Forum from 26-29 April, an annual conference that brings together human rights defenders to share their experience and expertise.

Almost four weeks have already passed since six of seven Saharawi human rights activists, held at the Moroccan prison of Sale, began their open hunger strike. They were arrested and detained, on 8 October 2009, on their return from a family visit to the Saharawi refugees camps in South West of Algeria. The Moroccan government intends to bring them before a military court on account of that trip.