Latest

The Norwegian Tibet Committee, one of the organisations of the Human Rights House in Oslo, has played a key part in staging a big exhibition on Tibet, ranging from traditional culture to contemporary society, religious life and political plight. Chungdak Koren, right, Chairwoman of the Tibet Committe, guides through the exhibition and will introduce a film on refugee children Sunday 12 February. (30-JAN-06)
 

-Hard as this seems to imagine, not the least in East Africa, state and civil society need to learn how to trust and support, cooperate and compliment each other. If not, democracy itself will fall, HRH’s Niels Jacob Harbitz, right, stressed in his closing remarks at the seminar ‘Aid and the troubled democracies of East Africa’ last week. (27-JAN-06)
  

As Google launched its Chinese portal google.cn yesterday, defenders of freedom of expression like Chungdak Koren, right, of the Norwegian Tibet Committee, and international human rights groups protest the self-censorship regulations Google has agreed with Chinese authorities. -This is a major blow for freedom of expression and human rights in the People´s Republic of China, says Koren. -Google should never have agreed to this. (26-JAN-06)
 

Tuesday 17 January, the Norwegian Council for Africa and HRH co-hosted a seminar called ?Aid and the troubled democracies of East Africa?. The four speakers coming from Republic of Kenya and Republic of Uganda, including the well-known human rights defender Beatrice Kamau and the former editor at the Monitor, Republic of Uganda, Charles Onyango-Obbo all agreed upon the importance of a strong civil society for the functioning of a democracy (18-JAN-06)
 

Turkish authorities have done little or nothing to inform the Kurdish population about the bird flu disease, currently spreading across the country. When bird flew was detected in the non-Kurdish western Republic of Turkey last year, however, the authorities instantly presented information on how life stocks were to be killed. Follow-up guidance on possibly infected people was also given. (12-JAN-06)
 

The Human Rights House Foundation is deeply concerned about the condition of the 6 students that are in hunger strike in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. Therefore a letter was sent to both the Minister of Education and the Ombudsman, asking for the immediate restoration of their rights to education. After 15 days without food some of the strikers are at the end of their reserves. There are strong indications that their expulsion from university was politically motivated. Read the letters here. (11-JAN-06)
 

Kjell Magne Bondevik, (right, pictured at the opening of the Norwegian Human Rights House, August 2004), until last September Prime Minister of Norway, launched his plans today for an independent centre for peace, reconciliation in conflict-ridden areas and international human rights. (09-JAN-05)
 

The Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish People (RKR) has now published its first magazine with a thematic focus. As an ethnic minority the Kurds has been oppressed and harassed, both politically and militarily for decades. Women are especially endangered by violence and harassment in time of war and conflict. This together with the fear for new assaults affects Kurdish women in a special way and this makes out the thematic focus addressed in this new Norwegian publication. The magazine costs NOK 50,- and orders can be placed at www.kurdistan.no. (09-JAN-06)
 

The Ossietzky Prize; Norwegian PEN´s award for outstanding contributions to freedom of expression, will be awared Monday 19 December to Fakhra Salimi. This years laureate has been living in Norway since she was 20 – more than half her life – and has always represented a different voice in Norway´s otherwise rather homogenous and unisone public debate. (17-DEC-05)