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A one day conference “Belarus Action” will be held at the House of Literature, Oslo. The main goal of the conference is to create more attention about Belarus in the Norwegian public, challenge Norwegian politicians to work out a new Belarus-policy and to contribute to the work for a democratic Belarus.

In this seminar Larry Siemens from PEN American Center in New York will present his book “The Torture Report”. The book is based on documented torture conducted by U.S. authorities after 11 September 2001. Professor and U.S. expert Ole O. Moen will be among the questioners.

Nobel Peace Prize Nominee publisher Ragıp Zarakolu was arrested by Turkish police last year after being accused of membership of an illegal organisation under Turkish anti-terror legislation. R. Zarakolu has been held on pre-trial detention for 135 days in a high-security prison, Koaceli, 80 kilometres east of Istanbul. His detention and that of many others symbolizes the current fall of Turkey in international freedom of expression rankings.

On 17 December 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after the police had denied him the permission to sell food on the street. This incident set off a series of uprisings throughout Middle East. In certain countries, like Bahrain, we have seen an end to the demonstrations without significant political change. However, in other countries, we know that previous regimes have been removed from power, and that new governments are taking shape. This is – in different ways – the case in Tunisia and in Egypt. These regime changes have led to an international discussion about debt cancellation

Since Fidel Castro, long time Cuban leader, stepped down as president in 2008, his younger brother Raúl Castro assumed the office. Since then Cuba, previously embracing old soviet-style economic and political policies, has begun to change. Whilst it would be naïve to state that Cuba is moving toward democratic and open society, the reforms undertaken by R. Castro are having a real impact on Cuban population.

The High Level Group of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) estimates that between 50 and 80 million ha of land in poor and developing countries have been negotiated, acquired or leased by international investors. Large-scale land transactions are undermining food security, livelihoods and the environment of local populations. This wildly spreading global phenomenon has been the reason why there have been so many reports of human rights violations in rural areas recently, especially with regards to land rights.

International and Azerbaijani NGOs condemn the blackmail and continued harassment of one of the few independent investigative journalists working in Azerbaijan, Khadija Ismayilova.

Norwegian PEN, Human Rights House Foundation and Norwegian Helsinki Committee invite you to the conference “Action on Belarus!” in Litteraturhuset in Oslo on 22 March.

Political use of religious symbols and play on religious feelings undermine freedom of speech and political debate in many parts of the world. Populist politicians exploit human insecurity and powerlessness by stirring demonstrations, public rage and violent actions against members for alleged blasphemy, unbelief and lack of respect for sacred symbols. Religious-based law and scripture interpretation restrict human freedom.