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The PEN delegation visited Turkey from 12 – 18 November. PEN International and PEN branches from the USA, Sweden, England, Turkey and Norway participated. Meeting with President Abdullah Gül in Ankara on 13 November, the delegation asked that Turkey took concrete action to stop the alarming increase in the number of writers, journalists, translators and publishers who are detained or prosecuted in the country.

The office of Norwegain Helsinki Committee partner in Belarus, prominent NGO ‘Viasna’, led by the imprisoned human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, was confiscated on 26 November. The move was the last fulfilment of the illegal conviction of Bialiatski just over one year ago. NHC has protested this last blow against Viasna through the network Civil Society Platform.

FIAN International and other NGOs denounce the health plight of hunger-striking farmers arbitrarily imprisoned in Paraguay.

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is deeply concerned at recent request by the Prosecutor General’s office in Kazakhstan that the court ban what in effect are all news outlets critical of the current government.

Norwegian Tibet Committee invites to a seminar and debate organised by Norwegian Fritt Ord Foundation dedicated to protests in Tibet.

Norwegian PEN, the world’s largest writers and free expression organisation, has awarded this year’s Ossietzky prize to Norwegian-Pakistani singer, music producer, composer, film maker and human rights activist Deeyah.

Two more Tibetans have died after reportedly setting themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule, a rights group said, on the same day that the Communist Party unveiled its new generation of leaders. The incidents on 15 November would bring the total number Tibetan self-immolations to 12 in the last ten days, since the run-up to the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has issued recommendations to the Togo state urging it to ensure that land contracts with foreign companies do not result in forced eviction, internal displacement, or the increased food insecurity of women and girls.

Norwegian Helsinki Committee is concerned with the reports that a conference aiming at discussing freedom of the internet allows restrictions on contributions from civil society – input that would contribute to a more open and relevant discussion, says Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.