Latest

Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, right, was attacked at his home outside Aarhus in the evening 1 January by a man of Somali origin. “This episode shows once again how fragile freedom of speech has become in our society and how important it is that we are stuck on the defense of the right to freely assert their voices”, says Norwegian PEN’s leader, Anders Heger.

HRH in Oslo celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009 and moved to a new building. Living in peace and in safety, the eight organisations of the House had multiple initivatives this year in different areas mostly dedicated to human rights abroad. They also served as coorganisers of campaigns and forums. Find a summary of our partner NGOs’ activities in 2009 herein.

In an interview in the Norwegian daily Dagbladet, the UN’s special representative in Islamic Republic of Afghanistan discloses some of the secrecy that has characterized the case of Afghan journalist Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh, right, his release and travel to Scandinavia. Credit is also given to Norwegian PEN and its Vice President Elisabeth Eide for contributing positively to solving this case.

Members of the Norwegian Human Rights House urge the Iranian authorities to respect the dignity and work of the human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner 2003, Shirin Ebadi. We ask the authorities to return the confiscated award and put an end to all kind of repression against the highly respected human rights defender and her relatives.

Following the election of Republic of Kazakhstan to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Norway set up an embassy in Kazakh capital of Astana. -It is important that Norway takes on Kazakhstan’s human rights abuses,” said the leader of the Oslo Center and former foreign minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Members of the Norwegian Human Rights House urge the Iranian authorities to respect the dignity and work of the human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner 2003, Shirin Ebadi. We ask the authorities to return the confiscated award and put an end to all kind of repression against the highly respected human rights defender and her relatives.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin (a.k.a. Nyi Nyi Aung), right, a political prisoner in Burma’s notorious Insein Prison, is currently on hunger strike. 40-year-old Lwan, who was born in Burma but is a naturalized US citizen, is protesting his loss even of ordinary prisoner’s rights.

With an even bigger and even better programme than when we first did this, in December 2008, the second Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival promises to generate more attention and debate. The carefully selected films address four key areas of the current human rights situation around the world: Migration, Impunity and War Crimes, Whose Business is Human Rights?, and ‘Worlds without Witnesses’.

The Amnesty prize for 2009 goes to psychologist Nora Sveaas, right, for her strong engagement towards refugees’ and asylum seekers’ rights, and for her several years’ long work to secure adequate health care for people fleeing torture and mistreatment. Through her efforts, Sveaass has contributed to bringing a well-hidden problem into the public domain.