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December 2, 2012

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.

December 2, 2012

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.

November 25, 2012

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.

November 20, 2012

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.

November 17, 2012

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.

November 17, 2012

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.

November 9, 2012

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.

November 9, 2012

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.

November 9, 2012

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).