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Gennady Grushevoy (Henadz Hrushavy in Belarusian) and the Rafto foundation organised a festival, where young Belarusians met to discuss environmental issues, in Minsk, Republic of Belarus, October 2009. Henadz Hrushavy received the 1999 Rafto prize in recognition of his work for democracy and human rights in the Republic of Belarus.

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is outraged, disgusted, and deeply saddened by Cambodia’s illegal, inhumane, and egregious forcible return to the People´s Republic of China of twenty Uyghurs who had sought refuge and protection in Cambodia. ‘They have no immigration papers, no visa’, explained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, though refugees trying to save their lives are never supposed to have ones.

2009 Rafto Prize for a journalist from Republic of Azerbaijan, release of a documentary describing North Korean concentration camps, demonstration in Bergen calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and a free Burma and release of DVD presenting 2008 Rafto Prize winner’s Pastor’s Bulambo’s work in DR Congo were the main activities of the Rafto House in Bergen. We suggest a summary of the NGOs’ activities in 2009.

Civilians attacked, bombed, and cut off from aid in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Somalia, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the DR of Congo, along with stagnant funding for treating HIV/AIDS and ongoing neglect of other diseases, were among the worst emergencies in 2009, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported in its annual list of the “Top Ten” humanitarian crises.

Malahat Nasibova said her husband Ilgar Nasibov, right, and “Democracy and NGO development Resource Center” employee Vafadar Eyvazov suffer from rib fractures. The two men were trying to arrange a seminar in Nakhchivan State University to combat widespread corruption at the University but some fifty students of Sport faculty dragged them out and beat heavily.

Aminatou Haidar’s protest against Morocco’s refusal to allow her to return home had mobilized the world powers to solve the crisis. International pressure had apparently forced Rabat to allow her to return to Laayoun, where she had been refused entry in mid-November. “This is a triumph, a victory for … human rights, international justice and the Saharan cause,” Haidar said.

Amnesty International has expressed its concern that a court in the Republic of Turkey has shut down a pro-Kurdish political party under laws that fail to meet international standards. Kurdish student union, meanwhile, has launched an online petition to support the party.

To mark World Human Rights Day, Amnesty International spoke to three women who put their lives on the line in defence of human rights. Aminatou Haidar, right, Western Saharan human rights defender who has been on hunger strike since 15 November to protest her expulsion by the Moroccan authorities, was one of them.

One year after receiving the Rafto Prize, pastor Bulambo Lembelembe Josué, right, is still fighting to establish a dialogue between the rebel soldiers, government and international forces, and civilians in the Congolese Kivu region.