The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Committee Against Torture about the judicial harassment against its Chairman, Mr. Igor Kalyapin, also Head of the Joint Mobile Group of human rights organisations in Chechnya (JMG).

Election commissions at all the levels, from the Central Election Commission to district election commissions, have discredited themselves and must be abolished. The principles on which election commissions are constituted should be changed.

"The Human Rights Council believes that at the present time the state of electoral institutions in Russia does not conform to the international obligations undertaken by our country, and domestic legislation governing elections is being violated.

The “Final Human Rights Assessment of the Events of 19 December 2010 in Minsk, Belarus” has been issued for the anniversary of the events in the aftermath of the Presidential elections on 19 December.

On September 5, human rights and civil society activists came to the Embassies of Belarus in six countries to demand that Belarusian authorities release human rights activist Ales Bialiatsky. The participants of the action at the Moscow Embassy had prepared a video message.

Two seminars took place in Kyiv on the weekend, 15 and 16 October 2011. On Saturday, 13 young activists learned about human rights and human rights advocacy, and on Sunday, a slightly different group of 16 activists learned about the human integrity and education. Since there were two seminars, their programs and goals were different.

On 2 March 2011 in the premises of the Kyiv City Migration Service (KMS), right after receiving a rejection in refugee status from that authority, a refugee Denis Solopov was detained by police. Migration Service where refugees are supposed to come and ask for protection turned out to be a trap, where they are caught on demand of their persecutors.  

On 9 November, more than 130 organisations in 49 European countries organise over 250 activities in the frame of the "International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism".

Crude Accountability announces the publication of a new report, “The Private Pocket of the President (Berdymukhamedov): Oil, Gas and the Law, which examines the role of the State Agency for the Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources Under the President in the distribution of revenue from oil and gas sales in Turkmenistan.The report focuses on the creation of the Agency, which carries full responsibility for management of petroleum operations in Turkmenistan, including receipt of monies, exploration, extraction, transport and warehousing of oil and gas by foreign investors. The Agency reports directly to the President of Turkmenistan and is responsible for oversight of all monitoring of petroleum operations, including environmental, financial and labor issues.

The seminar, organized by Projekthaus Potsdam Babelsberg (Germany), was held from 3 to 12 September, 2011 in Potsdam. This is the second stage of the pilot program and a logical continuation of the training course "satire and humor against contemporary fascism”, which took place in Voronezh (11/28-12/05 2010).

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has received new information on the following situation in the Republic of Moldova/ Region of Transnistria.

New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, that Mr.

The Promo-LEX Association, a Non-Governmental and apolitical Organization, which aims to promote democracy and human rights, welcomes the efforts and the results achieved by the constitutional authorities of Chisinau in the release of both The Mayor of Corjova and a Local Councilor, Valeriul Mitul and Iurie Cotofan.

The South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders have sent a statement to the Azerbaijani authroities on 10 March 2011 to condemn the recent interrogation of human rights defenders and last week arrests of youth activists and bloggers in Azerbaijan.
 
The statements calls upon the authorities to stop the repression of the civil society, and immediately release the five detained youth activists and  urges the  to respect freedom of expression and assembly of the people in Azerbaijan.

 As the consequences of recent political uprising; civil unrest, instability and lack of state security continues to threaten civil life in Tunisia, Italy has called upon EU and Frontex to secure its borders from those who seek to escape from these fearful conditions.