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Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist and human rights activist well known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and Russian president Putin. On October 7, 2006 she was shot dead in her apartment building. We wish to honour Anna Politkovskaya´s memory this Sunday 7 October, one year after her death, with an event in Bergen at the Rafto Human Rights House.
(02-OCT-07)

A demonstration in support of the peaceful protesters in Burma took place in Bergen on 29 September. Bergen Sosialistiske Ungdom took initiative for a cross-political demonstration against the military dictatorship in Burma to show their support of the monks marching through the streets of Rangoon. Around 200 people joined this demonstration in Bergen. (30-SEP-07)

Venerable Thich Quang Do, right, the 2006 Rafto Prize Laureate, calls on United Nations to take emergency action on Burma and expresses solidarity with Buddhists´ and civilians´ peaceful, democratic protests. In his Letter to the UN Secretary General, Thich Quang Do wrote: “I express the deep alarm of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam on the violent repression of peaceful and democratic protests by the military government of Burma/Myanmar. (28-SEP-07)
 

A representative for the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights conducted a telephone interview on 25 September with Mr. Aye Chan Naing, the Director at the Democratic Voice of Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar), Oslo to report on the situation. According to Aye Chan Naing the protests against the repressive military government that has ruled Burma (Myanmar) since 1962 are growing and they will continue to grow. (26-SEP-07)

Yesterday, 25 September, the Rafto Foundation sent an urgent request to Norwegian authorities as well ambassadors of the Russian Federation, the People´s Republic of China and India in Norway concerning the recent demonstrations in Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar). This is the first time in 18 years that monks have withheld their recognition of leading members of the military junta. (26-SEP-07)
 

“We congratulate The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights on being awarded the prestigious 2007 Rafto Prize. This has put the Dalit cause on the agenda,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre and Minister of International Development Erik Solheim.
(22-SEP-07)

The Rafto Prize for 2007 has been awarded to The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), India for its brave struggle to promote Dalit rights, and for its efforts to emphasise that the discrimination and oppression resulting from caste prejudice is a serious violation of international human rights. Right, Vincent Manoharan, General Secretary of NCDHR. (20-SEP-07)

The Norwegian Mission to the East in collaboration with the Rafto Foundation and the Norwegian Teacher Academy invites on September 13 (in Bergen) to the seminar on Freedom of belief and human rights in Vietnam. The background for the discussion is the changes taking place in communist Vietnam as rapid economic development intensifies relations with western democracies. (25-AUG-07)
 

Since August 1999, there have been 5,000 abductions in the Caucasus. The actions of Russia´s military in the region are already lawless. It is dangerous work documenting these human rights abuses. One of the few people who are brave enough to do it is Lidia Yusupova, a lawyer and human rights campaigner who directs the Grozny office of Memorial, one of the last NGOs still operating in the Chechen Republic. (25-AUG-07)