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2 March 2010 marks the fifth anniversary of the unsolved murder of Monitor editor-in-chief Elmar Huseynov, who was fatally gunned down in his apartment building in a well-organised attack. ARTICLE 19 calls on the Azerbaijani government to redouble its efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to take immediate action to improve freedom of expression in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On occasion of 8 March 2010, International Women’s Day, Norwegian PEN has joined a letter addressed to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, written by members of the Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of 20 members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) and members of the IFEX Gender Working Group to draw her attention to the slander and abuse faced by women journalists and activists in Tunisia.

US President Obama met His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the White House on February 18, 2010, despite mounting pressure from the People´s Republic of China for Obama not to go ahead with the meeting. The Norwegian Tibet Committee (NTC) hopes the meeting can help to get the Chinese government to the negotiating table for a mutually acceptable solution to the Tibet issue.

A special UN Human Rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana visited Burma last week. After five days spent in the country Mr. Quintana returned back without having met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and any information about the planned election in Burma later this year.

Dozens of families on the outskirts of Bamako, the capital of Mali, are under threat of being evicted from their lands by the Government in favour of a housing project. The cultivation ban, ordered in July 2009, jeopardizes their right to adequate food. Moreover, if the eviction is realized, it will hinder the ability of the families to feed themselves in the long run.

Monologue about Aung San Suu Kyis life with Ingunn Eye:

Myanmar’s government must halt its repression of ethnic minority activists before forthcoming national and local elections, Amnesty International warned in a major report released on 16 February 2010.

In a letter to the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre on February 18, the NGO forum for human rights has sent its recommendations for cases in need of particular attention during this years’ sessions in the UN Human Rights Council, in the general Assembly and in Norway’s bilateral consultations.

In Almaty, the city court yesterday lifted the ban put on opposition newspapers earlier this month by the same court on statements criticizing president Nazarbayev’s son in law Kulibayev. The court also rejected libel complaints filed by Mr.Kulibayev.