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At least 14 people have been killed and 86 people wounded in clashes between police and demonstrators in the Mangistau region in Western Kazakhstan. The unrest follows seven months of conflicts between striking oil workers and authorities, and reportedly started in Zhanozen on 16 December, when people attacked a stage set up for the Independence Day event. – It is of paramount importance that investigations into the clashes and the resulting deaths are conducted in an independent and transparent way, said Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General of NHC

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) has worked closely with Georgian and international human rights groups in order to document crimes committed during and after the 2008 war between the Russian Federation and Georgia, and monitor domestic investigations of these crimes. Three Georgian human rights groups have contributed with information to this report, namely Article 42 of the Constitution, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and The Georgian Human Rights centre (HRC). However, responsibility for the analyses and conclusions rests with the NHC

The democracy- and human rights activist, Vaclav Havel, died on 11 December. -With Vaclav Havel’s death, Europe has lost one of their great leading stars for democracy, a champion of humanism and human rights in Europe, says Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

On 19 December last year we witnessed thousands of peaceful citizens gathering in central Minsk, protesting the oppression and the stolen presidential elections. That night all hope of progress was shattered as we saw police forces batter the protesters and arresting them by the hundreds. Presidential candidates, opposition leaders, civil society leaders and unorganized citizens were all herded into vans and brought to prison. Thousands fled, running away from soldiers and police beating indiscriminately. Belarusian citizens keep running still a year later

A delegation with members from Norwegian and Danish PEN was denied visa at the Minsk airport and had to return home. At the Minsk airport in Belarus on December 5th a delegation with members from Norwegian PEN, board member- William Nygaard, publisher- Trygve Åslund and secretary general- Carl Morten Iversen) and Danish PEN board member and journalist- Niels-Ivar Larsen was denied visa and, consequently, entry to Belarus

On the 12-14 December Norasia arranges the Conference of the Network for Asia Studies at the University of Oslo. The theme is “Asia’s Century: Where is the Asia Research?” There will be a special panel discussion at the conference dedicated to the Norwegian Burma research.

In celebration of the international Human Rights Day, December10, the human rights organization FIAN International invites people worldwide to participate in an art contest.

according to Bjørn Engesland the general secretary of Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Duma elections in Russia from the very start seem to be unfair and undemocratic. There have been serious complains regarding election monitoring, vote counting and other related procedures. Independent national observers all over the country have registered countless violations in the election legislation, including pressure against voters to vote for the ruling party United Russia

Following a visit to Kosovo 13-18 November, a delegation of Helsinki Committees calls on authorities there to improve the rule of law and the fairness and efficiency of the justice systems for all, and to extend a hand to its minorities and demonstrate in practical terms that the local and central government takes care of the needs of its citizens. The recent events in the North of Kosovo demonstrates the need for Prishtina and Belgrade to seriously engage to avoid further escalation in conflict levels and inter-ethnic tension