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The Rafto Foundation is deeply saddened by the death of Preah Maha Ghosananda, the Cambodian Rafto Laureate from 1992. Ghosananda passed away March 12, 2007 almost 80 years old. With the spiritual strength of his Buddhist belief, he emphasised peace and reconciliation as the remedy for Cambodia’s deep wounds after the Khmer Rouge terror. (21-MAR-07)

Yesterday, eleven Sahrawi political prisoners appeared before the Court of Appeal in El-Ayoune. The Moroccan court issued heavy sentences against some of the prisoners, while the trial of others was postponed; only one was released. The proceeding witnessed a massive presence of Moroccan security services. Only a few family members of the prisoners were allowed to attend. Two Spanish foreign legal observers were able to attend the proceedings. (21-MAR-07)
 

Last night the Norwegian human rights advocate Kieu Tran, right, was brought in for questioning by the Vietnamese authorities. Tran acted as an interpreter on Thursday when Therese Jebsen of the Rafto Foundation were arrested while visiting last year´s Rafto Human Rights Prize laureate, venerable Thich Quang Do, together with Mr Tom Rune Orset, a journalist from the Norwegian TV2. (17-MAR-07)
 

“I call upon people from around the world, especially those who are investing or giving development aid to Vietnam, to draw lessons from today’s events. Instead of helping to strengthen the communist regime and prolong its survival, try to use your economic aid to save 80 million Vietnamese, and liberate them from the great prison in which they languish today”. Read an interview with Thich Quang Do after arrest of Therese Jebsen, on March 15, 2007.
(16-MAR-07)

Moments after handing over to Thich Quang Do the diploma for the Rafto Human Rights Prize for 2006, the diploma that Quang Do was not allowed to come to Bergen last November to receive, Therese Jebsen, right, of the Rafto Foundation and interpreter Kieu Tran was arrested in Saigon this morning. -This arrest makes me ashamed and humiliated for my country and people, said Quang Do. (15-MAR-07)
 

Today, the World Movement for Democracy / National Endowment for Democracy issued the following alert: According to BosNewsLife, within the last week, police officers arrested human rights lawyer Le Quoc Quan at his house in Nghe An province, Vietnam. He is still in police custody, but his whereabouts are unknown. Quan had just returned from Washington, DC, where as a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), he researched the theories and practices of civil society. (14-MAR-07)
 

In companionship with Norwegian-Vietnamese Centre, the Rafto Human Rights House issues the below letter of appeal from the Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights for Viet Nam. The letter gives voice to a call for joint protests against the recent political oppression orchestrated by the Communist Vietnamese authorities towards the democracy movement of the country. (13-MAR-07)
 

Join the letter that is being sent to the UN Secretary General regarding the respect for the fundamental rights to self-determination of the Saharawi people. Campaign is launched by Western Sahara Task Force and Belgian Committee of Support to the Saharawi People. (12-MAR-07)

Ablikim Abdiriyim, son of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, has been tried in secret, reports Amnesty International. Ablikim is reportedly very ill as a result of beatings suffered in detention, and continues to be denied access to the medical treatment he needs. Ablikim was reportedly tried on January 28, 2007 on the charges of “subversion of state power”, “ethnic separatism” and “sending information over the internet to Ms. Kadeer”. (12-MAR-07)