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The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is disappointed to learn that authorities in Kyrgyzstan have moved to block access to a highly respected news agency covering the Central Asian region, Ferghana.ru. The decision is not only in breach of the country’s international obligations with respect to media freedoms, but stands in contrast to the positive level of openness which has characterized Kyrgyzstan in recent years.

Putin will not survive the next presidential term. He will off course win the upcoming elections, he is in reality the only candidate, but he will be replaced within two years. The Russian political elites will ensure this, together with the protesters in the streets. This was one of the conclusions of Nicolay Petrov, who participated at The Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s seminar Presidential Elections in Russia – a New Spring?, at the House of Literature in Oslo on 15 February

Statement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, on the conclusion of her official visit to Honduras. During the visit from the 7 to 14 February 2012, M Sekaggya visited Honduras and travelled to Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. During my visit, I met with the President; the Minister of Justice and Human Rights; the Minister of the Indigenous and Afro-Honduran people; the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs; the Vice-Minister for Defense; the Vice-Minister of Internal Affairs; the Vice-Minister of Security.

Asylum seekers without documents – what do they risk when they are expressing themselves freely?

The authoritarian Central Asian state’s leader, who assumed power in 2006 after the death of eccentric President Saparmurat Niyazov, faces seven loyal members of the elite on the ballot, none of whom dared to criticise him during the campaign. In turn Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov is predicted to win vote with critics branding rival candidates as token challengers

Iranian journalist, blogger and activist Asieh Amini has received the Oxfam Novib / Pen Award on January 19 from the hands of human rights ambassador Lionel Veer. The presentation took place at the ‘Theatre at the Spui’ in The Hague, during the Writers Unlimited Winter Nights Festival. This award is presented every year to writers and journalists who are persecuted or have had to flee because of their critical writing

The root causes of the unrest in Zhanaozen are not isolated to this particular region, similar social challenges can be found all over Kazakhstan, Essenbek Ukteshbayev and Ainur Kurmanov, two independent trade union activists from Kazakhstan said during a seminar hosted by NHC in Oslo on 2 February.

The credibility of the upcoming Presidential Elections in Russia is waning after Central Elections Commission’s refusal to register the liberal opposition leader, Grigory Yavlinsky for the Presidential race.

Turkey is on the way back where the country was 20 years ago: The country ranks among the world’s worst when it comes to imprisonment of writers and journalists. Sara Whyatt – Program Director, Freedom of Expression, at PEN International made it clear that the development has been going the wrong way under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.