On March 19, 2010, information appeared that a criminal case has been initiated against Yauheni Yakavenka upon Art. 435 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“evading activities on draft to the army”). On March, May 22, 2010 young man is called upon by the crime investigator of the Central Region Department of Interior Olga Shupikova, this time as a defendant (accused).

February 18, 2010, from the 4 PM newsblock of the national channel ONT (“Nation-Wide Television”) we found out that the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko officially charged Secretary General of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus Leonid Maltsev with the task to work on the draft of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Alternative Military Service”.

Activities of the officers of Belarusian law-enforcement bodies during peaceful actions of February 8, 14 and 16, 2010, as well as the situation around the “Union of Poles in Belarus” have caused deep concern from the side of publicity and human rights community.

As a result of a collective discussion on February, 17, 2010, human rights organizations of Belarus have made a decision to initiate negotiations with law-enforcement institutions of Belarus for the aims of exchange of positions regarding the issue of freedom of assembly and ensuring law and order during conduction of peaceful assemblies. A special organizing committee has been created for the purpose of conducting negotiations.

On February 11, 2010, a court hearing will start on the case of Yauheni Yakavenka, who is occused of failure to show up to the military recruitment procedures (Art. 25.1.3 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Belarus).

Tomorrow, on February 11, 2010, a court hearing is scheduled on the case of Yauheni Yakavenka who is conscientiously objecting to military service and insists on application of alternative civilian service, which goes along with provisions of Art. 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus.

 Today, on January 29, 2010, a court hearing of the case on Ivan Mikhailau - a parishioner of Messianic Jews community “New Testament” and the oldest son in a family with many children.

Ivan Mikhailau refuses military service upon his religious beliefs and demands assignment of civil (alternative) service to him, which goes along with provisions of Art. 57 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus.

Nowadays self-government is one of the forms of student’s participation in everyday life of the university and sometimes the society. At first sight it is all simple: student’s self-government is when students organize on their own, remove part of the duties from the administration of the high school and perform independently. But the complexity is that nobody has negotiated the exact duties of student's self-management.

It has become the practice when the officers of the Customs Department of the Revenue Service do not allow the Armenian language printed products into Georgia. According to verbal explanations issued by the customs officers such restrictions are imposed by Georgian legislation.

On 27th of April, 2009, government and civil society experts from Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine began a three-day meeting in Vilnius to discuss improving human rights education for young people.

Government and civil society experts from Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine began a three-day meeting in Vilnius today to discuss improving human rights education for young people.

The meeting, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) with Lithuania's Ministry of Education and Science, will examine achievements in the area of human rights education to identify good practices that can be replicated in other countries.

"The focus of our support for human rights education is to equip individuals and groups to translate human rights values into action locally and thus strengthen a culture of human rights in society," said Kirsten Mlacak, head of ODIHR's human rights department.

One of the biggest regional Human Rights centres in Russia may become “homeless” in some months to come.

Voronezh House of Human Rights – a union of regional and inter-regional human rights and civil organizations – was founded at the beginning of 2009 to strengthen the positions of the human rights organizations in the region, building dialogue with the authorities, joining the efforts in defending and promoting Human Rights.