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This was the question left hanging in the air by Kesang Takla, right, Tibet’s Minister for International Relations, in her press conference at the Human Rights House in Oslo today. Takla further emphasized that the official Tibetan position is not that the Olympics should not have been held in the People´s Republic of China, or that the rest of the world ought to boycott the forthcoming Summer Games, but that each participating individual and nation should listen to their conscience and act accordingly. (16-APR-08)
 

The Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi says that she has received numerous death threats recently. The threats have been presented in the form of notes on the door to the building where she has her office. One of the notes simply states that she will soon die. -The threats against me and my family have become more serious, warns Ebadi. (15-APR-08)
 

Per-Yngve Monsen, formerly employed by the Norwegian branch of the German multinational company Siemens, has been rewarded for his courage and stamina in reporting on his employer´s corrupt conduct and systematic over-charging in contracts with the public sector and government in Norway. On Freedom of Expression Foundation´s website, Monsen receives praise for his brave use of his ight to freedom of expression. (08-APR-08)
 

HRH F shares Front Line’s concern following the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders Vadim Borshchevskiy and Pavel Levinov; as well as raids on the apartment of human rights defenders Olga Karatch and Yelena Borshchevskaya and on the offices of the women’s rights organisation Female Centre “Adliga”. Vadim Borshchevskiy is a journalist and member of Female Centre “Adliga”and the Youth Centre “Seventh Side”. (05-APR-08)
 

From Kurdish human rights defenders, www.humanrightshouse.org has been alerted to video footage of the very violent conduct of the Turkish army and police during the recent Newroz celebrations. To view the Youtube placed coverage, click here. Newroz, the Turkish New Year, is celebrated on the spring equinox, 21 March. (02-APR-08)
 

The Chinese, Indian, and Nepali governments should release detained Tibetans and permit them to demonstrate peacefully, Human Rights Watch said today. Protesters in Lhasa, Tibet, Dharamsala, India and Kathmandu, Nepal who were attempting to observe “Tibetan National Uprising Day,” the anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion against Beijing´s rule in Tibet in 1959, were dispersed and arrested. The protests in Lhasa were the largest political demonstrations there since 1989. (14-MAR-08)
 

The use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators by the Armenian police causes deep concern.

-The 20th century demonstrated that genocide is not restricted to any particular period, ideology or part of the world. As such, it is rather a dark side of civilisation, and one that we have to build bulwarks against, over and over again, says Bernt Hagtvet, right, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Oslo. Hagtvet, a board member of HRH F, has edited a huge, comparative study on genocide that was launched yesterday. (11-MAR-08)
 

The Norwegian Tibet Committee (NTC) and the Tibetan community of Norway demonstrated in front of the Chinese Embassy yesterday to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the Lhasa prising. The Embassy was angered, but all the fficials could do was close the Embassy and watch the demonstration from behind the curtains. (11-MAR-08)