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Tonight, in relation to this year´s Newroz celebrations, the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds (RKR) hosts a meeting with the formerly imprisoned Kurdish opposition politician Selim Sadak, right, of the DTP party. Like Leyla Zana, Sadak was an elected MP in the Republic of Turkey in 1994, when he was imprisoned on political grounds for ten years. (26-MAR-07)
 

Aminatou Haidar, right, has been imprisoned and tortured because of her struggle for Africa’s last colony. “When I was freed, I was reduced to a shadow of my real self. A ghost, a young girl emerging from a nameless hell”, she says about the day she was released from prison, June 19, 1991. She now appeals for Norwegian recognition of Western Sahara as an independent state. (21-MAR-07)
 

For the first time, high level experts will discuss how human rights education can contribute to a positive development both within and between the neighbouring states of Norway and the Russian Federation. (20-MAR-07)
 

Chinese authorities have resolved to “strike hard” against voices of opposition in East Turkestan. The Rafto Foundation and Human Rights House Foundation have signed an appeal by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) to the EU.(15-MAR-07)
   

The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) decided today to add its name to the list of human rights organisations sponsoring a global petition in support of the system of independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council, known as the Special Procedures. HRHF also encourages the entire Human Rights House Network to do the same. With the introduction of the new HR Council, several governments are trying to cripple the ability of all the Special Procedures to fulfil their mandates effectively. (14-MAR-07)
   

On 16 March, and in cooperation with the Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurds (RKR) and Oslo Documentary Cinema, The Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo will host a full-day conference on the previous Iraqi regime´s use of chemically produced poisonous gas in the war against its own Kurdish minority. For a full programme, click here (13-MAR-07)
 

Tomorrow, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) hosts a seminar at the Human Rights House in Oslo called ´Turkmenistan: Status Quo or hope for change?´. The seminar also marks the opening of a three-day photography exhibition with nique andpreviously unshown pictures from this very closed former Soviet republic, trapped between Islamic Republic of Iran and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Right, former president Sapamuat Nyiazov. (13-MAR-07)
 

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) left today on a fact-finding mission to Kosovo to investigate the human rights situation prior to the decision on the future status of Kosovo, expected to be ade later this year. In recent months, unrest has increased in the province. 10 February, the police killed two persons while breaking up a deminstration. (12-MAR-07)
 

Today, 10 March, marks the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation of Tibet. 48 years ago to the day, Tibetans took to the streets of Lhasa, their capital, to protest the Chinese invasion and occupation. A week later, Dalai Lama had to flee to India. In the months following his escape, thousands of Tibetans were killed by the Chinese Army. Right, demonstrators outside the Chinese Embassy demanding a free Tibet. (10-MAR-07)