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9 international NGOs sent a joint letter to President of Belarus, house of representatives and to urge Council of the Republic, the upper chamber of the Belarusian Parliament, to quash recent legislative amendments that impose limitations on freedom of assembly and association and severely restrict the work of Belarusian civil society groups, especially those working on human rights or related issues

The recent Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting provided an opportunity for ARTICLE 19, International Media Support (IMS) and Media Law Institute (MLI) to highlight the ongoing challenges to freedom of expression and equality in Ukraine, as well as the need for media reform in the country.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded its review of the 6th periodic report of Norway on questions relating to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

The human rights record of Norway will on Monday, 24 October, face the scrutiny of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in a meeting that will be webcast live on the Internet.

Norwegian SLUG handed over 3000 signatures demanding a moratorium on Pakistan’s debt after the unprecedented floods. Norway brought this message to the Paris Club creditors, but unforunately the international community did not want to consider this option.

Authorities arrested the dissident in 2008 after he helped organize deliveries of aid to Cyclone Nargis survivors and then gave interviews to foreign media in which he criticized the government’s response to the deadly disaster. The regime sentenced Zargana to 59 years in prison. His sentence was then reduced to 35 years. On October 12, 2011, Zargana was released from Myitkyina Prison in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, as part of a widespread general amnesty

Free expression defenders are celebrating Thursday’s decision by a military court to drop charges against a Tunisian policeman who blew the whistle on a still-active core of officers from the country’s pre-revolution days – some of them alleged torturers, others linked to Tunisia’s long notorious internet surveillance squads.

On September 29, Kazakhstan government passed new laws which tighten government control over religious communities. According to the law, every religious community will have to register with the government. Moreover, a special permit by local and central government will be required to build any new house of worship. According to various NGOs, such law will have negative implications on civil society.

It is said there are reforms going on in Burma after the election last year. At the same time there are still around 2000 political prisoners in Burmese jails and the level of conflict in ethnic areas have escalated.