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The widespread violence in southern Kyrgyz Republic – with hundreds killed and tens of thousands fleeing – highlights the need for more international involvement in the country. Western countries’ lack of interest in and understanding of the desperate situation democratic forces in Kyrgyz Republic have found themselves in for a number of years have allowed cynical politicians to act in their private interest and instigate unrest.

According to Human Rights Watch, two Tibetan environmentalists, Jigme Namgyal and Rinchen Samdrup, have been in detention in Tibet since August 2009. Karma Samdrup, a prominent Tibetan environmental philanthropist, one of China’s leading collectors of Tibetan art, and founder of the award-winning Three Rivers Environmental Protection group, was seeking his brothers’ release and was himself arrested on January 3, 2010.

Meeting with Thant Myint-U, author of The River of Lost footsteps.

The application for the 2011 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is now available.

1 July 2010 will mark a new era for Belarusian internet users. Many internet websites may be blocked. On that day, regulations prepared by the Ministry of Communication and Information will come into force, concerning material that contradicts law – pornography, extremism, terrorism, etc. Experts say the new regulations can affect sources that may pose a threat to the authorities.

Burma in 2010 will hold its first elections in twenty years. Given the restrictive provisions of the 2010 Political Parties Registration Law that bar anyone serving a prison term from membership in a political party, many imprisoned dissidents will be excluded from the process, unless they are released in the near future. The elections and the constitution they will bring into force will define the political landscape for years to come.

The European Union hopes to send a mission to Burma as part of a new approach to press the country’s ruling junta to adopt democracy. “There is a tendency towards a Dialogue,” said Jose Eugenio Salarich, a Spanish senior official responsible for relations with Asia and the Pacific.

A group of European human rights organizations, including the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, are calling for stronger support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the region. European states and the European Union (EU), among other actors, must ensure full support and cooperation to the ICC, to enable it to fulfill its mandate to deliver justice to the victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and to prevent the future commission of such crimes.

Four monks of Wara Monastery in Thangpu Township, Jomda County (Jiangda xian) in Chamdo Prefecture, “Tibet Autonomous Region” were arrested on 15 May under suspicion of leading and instigating protest at the county headquarters in Spring 2008 and two other official monks of the same monastery were arrested on 16 May for their failure to ‘educate’ the monks under ‘Patriotic education’ campaign.