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Office of Viasna confiscated and sealed
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.
NGOs demand freedom for political prisoners on hunger strike and victims of slaughter in Paraguay
FIAN International and other NGOs denounce the health plight of hunger-striking farmers arbitrarily imprisoned in Paraguay.
Kazakhstan moves to shut down independent media
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.
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
Norwegian Tibet Committee invites to a seminar and debate organised by Norwegian Fritt Ord Foundation dedicated to protests in Tibet.
Norwegian PEN awarded Ossietzky prize 2012 to musician and rights activist Deeyah
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.
Tibet: Neverending fight for freedom
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.
UN Committee holds Togolese government accountable for rural women’s food insecurity
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.
Azerbaijan: NHC concerned over reported restrictions at the Internet Governance Forum
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.
Iryna Khalip: I was threatened, beaten and detained for my reporting
On 2 April 1997, while covering a protest against the proposed reunification of Belarus with Russia, a Belarusian journalist Iryna Khalip witnessed her father, a documentary filmmaker, get beaten unconscious. She herself was clubbed by riot police. That incident only galvanized her to continue to expose corruption in Belarus, especially as a journalist for the Minsk bureau of the investigative paper Novaya Gazeta (the paper of slain reporter Anna Politkovskaya).