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27 Jan
Holocaust Memorial Day.
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Analytics and Interview

Igor Kaliapin: «For us to work with the status of ‘foreign agent’ is unacceptable and insulting»
22.01.2015
On 16 January 2015 late in the evening the website of the Ministry of Justice published a statement that the NGO Committee Against Torture had been added to the register of non-profit organizations designated as ‘foreign agents’.
Tanya Lokshina: Don't ignore what's happening inside Russia
22.05.2014
Tanya Lokshina is the Russia program director at Human Rights Watch and Honorary Participant of International Youth Human Rights Movement: As the crisis in Ukraine escalated this spring, the Kremlin’s vicious crackdown on civil society also escalated. Space for independent civic activity in Russia is shrinking dramatically, but international policymakers and the media have been understandably too distracted to do much about it. Since early spring, it seems as though every week brings a new pernicious law or legislative proposal.
We have nothing to celebrate at the moment
28.11.2013
Earlier this year, the correspondent of Youth Human Rights Movement from Germany Jakob Stürmann interviewed Konstantin Baranov, member of the Coordination Council of the International Youth Human Rights Movement. They discussed so called “law against homosexual propaganda” and the overall situation of LGBT in Russia.  
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CIVIL NEWS

24.05.2016
Take part in action days of solidarity with “The Crimean Hostages”
Oleg Sentsov, Olexander Kolchenko, Hennadiy Afanasiev and Oleksiy Chyrniy have been held in Russian jails for two years already under fabricated charges of ‘terrorism’. We consider it being necessary to express solidarity with those who are persecuted due to their pro-Ukrainian views, civic stand and desire for freedom in Russia-annexed Crimea.
07.02.2015
Human Rights in Armenia 2014 Report
Helsinki Committee of Armenia has published “Human Rights in Armenia 2014” Annual Report. The report reflects on the Right to Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, Political Persecutions, Freedom of Conscience and Religion, The Rights of the Child, Protection of Labor Rights.
03.02.2015
Crimea Is Clamping Down on Human Rights
«We have a few questions for you,» a border guard told Sinaver Kadyrov, a Crimean Tatar activist, at the Armyansk checkpoint in northern Crimea on Jan. 23. Kadyrov was on his way to Kherson, in southern Ukraine, to fly to Turkey for medical treatment. It was the beginning of an ordeal that ended with a local court expelling him from Crimea, his home of almost 25 years.
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Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority It is time to sit back and reflect.

Mark Twain

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Youth Human Rights Movement

You Can Go, But You’ll Be Arrested Then

25.11.2010

The story of a Turkmenian dissident, Annadurdy Hadjiev, has taken an unexpected turn. The Kazakhstani authorities have been trying to prevent him from attending a review conference of OSCE in Astana by delaying issue of the visa (see the details at: http://www.memo.ru/eng/news/2010/11/24/2411101.html)

After HRC Memorial rose public awareness on the visa problems in its publication, in the afternoon of November 22, 2010 the refugee received a call from Vienna from a deputy of the permanent Kazakhstani representative for OSCE, Usen Suleymenov, and said that it had been positively decided to issue the visa for him. Suleymenov assured that Hadjiev can visit Kazakhstan freely since his name was not listed on Interpol lists (previously the Turkmenian authorities demanded that Hadjiev must be extradited on the grounds of accusations of economic violations. However, the request was declined by the Bulgarian court).
After conversation with Suleymenov Hadjiev called Kazakhstani embassy in Sofia. Talgat Ketebaev, the embassy employee, confirmed that they were ready to issue the visa, though being a man who professes Islam, advised the emigrant not to go to Kazakhstan since he would be arrested immediately after crossing the border. According to Ketebaev, Prosecutor’s General Office of Kazakhstan has already received a request from the Turkmen party to extradite the refugee within Minsk convention framework. The arguments that execution of the request of the Turkmen party would contradict Kazakhstan’s international obligations were ignored.

Hadjiev informed HRC Memorial that, regardless of the threats, he was ready to fly to Astana in case the visa was issued in a timely manner.
During the previous months the Turkmenian authorities have been pressurizing Kazakhstan by threatening to boycott the summit in Astana in case the Turkmen dissidents who are currently residing abroad are allowed to participate in the OSCE event.

Apparently, in an attempt to appease Ashgabat, Kazakhstani embassy in Turkmenistan rejected to issue visas to four civil society representatives in October. Three of them have been invited to attend a UNDP conference on demographic and gender issues in Almaty, and one has been invited to a human rights seminar organized by a local representative office of the Supreme Commissar of the UNO on human rights.

Vitaliy Ponomarev,
Head of the Program of monitoring human rights violations in Central Asia

Kazakhstan