The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has written a letter to the Kosovo Minister of Education, to ask him to immediately ensure proper schooling for Roma, Ashkaeli and Egyptian (RAE) children in a manner that is not discriminatory. The school at the RAE-camp in Obiliq is particularly problematic in this regard. The human right to education is a universally accepted principle that cannot be denied to any child. This right not only requires that authorities provide schools and theoretical access to them, but also that attendance and minimum quality standards are actively ensured.
Read the letter here

In letters to the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Stubb, and the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) expresses its concern with efforts by some of the OSCE participating states, amongst other the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, to restrict activities by domestic and international civil society organisations. NHC asks the two foreign ministers to raise the issue of registration of the NHC Central Asia representative office in Bishkek and recent efforts by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Interior to question the legality of the office, its two staff and the activities of the office, with Kyrgyz authorities. Read More

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee was present with two election observers at the parliamentary election in Georgia on 21 May 2008. The two advisers Aage Borchgrevink and Ivar Dale has finished their report from the election, and you can click on the link below to read it. You can also find the election report from our Georgian partner organisation Human Rights Centre here.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee's election report
Human Rights Centre election report

The two employees of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s office in Bishkek were questioned at the Ministry of Interior (MVD) for six hours yesterday.
The two were questioned about the activities of the office, about their legal grounds of residence in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan as well as the registration of the NHC representative office. By the end of the questioning, the Helsinki Committee reached an agreement with the MVD.
According to the agreement, the Helsinki Committee will not bring legal claims against the two officers who led the inspection of our office on June 9th and refrain from activities at the Bishkek office until the formal registration of the representative office is finalised.
In return, the MVD has promised that they will inform the Ministry of Justice, responsible for the registration of our office, that they have no objections against our registration.

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On the 9th of June officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs accompanied by the National Security Service personnel raided the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s office in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek.
-We consider this action a clear violation of international norms, says Bjørn Engesland , Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC). -Our work for human rights and democracy in Central-Asia has been conducted transparently, in understanding with Kyrgyz authorities and in compliance with national laws. Human rights work is protected by international documents within the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN, and Kyrgyzstan is legally and politically bound by these documents. On this background, we have brought information about the raid to the attention of international institutions.
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The 13th regional human rights school for youth organized by Helsinki Committees for Human Rights in West Balkan and supported by Norwegian Helsinki Committee took place in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia from 26th May to 2nd June.
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Uzbek organizations and initiative groups with project proposals on promotion of human rights and democracy in Uzbekistan may apply. Budgets should be within the frame of 5000 to 15000 USD with time-frames from 6 to 12 months. Read More

In an open letter to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee called for the removal of impediments to the reconstruction of approximately 25 houses in Rudesh village, Istok/g municipality, Kosovo. Read More

In March 2008 The Norwegian Helsinki Committee Central Asia Office announced a launch of the Small Grants Program for Tajikistan “Promotion of freedom of press and access to information”.
There were 40 project proposals received from various media and civil society organizations. Four project proposals were selected and approved for funding. With this Small Grants Program, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee hopes to contribute to the development of a free and independent press in Tajikistan. Read More

   A Belarusian parlamentarian has defended the refusal to consider a nationwide religious freedom petition, refering to Norway as an example of procedure.
   Three human rights defenders were fined in late April for their role in organising the petition, which has been signed by over 50,000 citizens. Chair of the parliamentary Human Rights, Ethnic Relations and Media Committee in Belarus, Yuri Kulakovsky, said to Forum 18 News Service:
   - We didn't make anything up, you know - we followed European democratic norms [...] There is a procedure for such initiatives in any democratic society. [...] There certainly is in Norway.
   The Norwegian Helsinki Committee confirmed to Forum 18 that in Norway there is no such procedure:
   - In Norway there is no need at all to ask for permission to collect signatures in support of peaceful activity, said Deputy Secretary General Gunnar Martin Ekeløve-Slydal. Read the Forum 18 report