English homepage - Den norske Helsingforskomité

This site presents an overview of Norwegian Helsinki Committee news and reports published in English.
See also the news archives sorted by year.

Call to strengthening Russian co-operation with the European Court of Human Rights

(17/04-2008)

The 12 February Moscow seminar on reform of the European Court of Human Rights challenged Russian authorities to strengthen its co-operation with the European Court of Human Rights.
The seminar asked Russian authorities to create mechanisms that guarantee that legislative reforms are undertaken in order to implement judgments of the Court. – We also appeal to competent organs of the Russian Federation, to take necessary steps in order to ratify Protocol 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, seminar participants said. The seminar was organised by the Moscow Helsinki Group, Demos, Memorial and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

Seminar Statement in English

Seminar Background Document

Seminar presentation on reform of the Court

Freedom of movement in Kosovo

(11/04-2008)

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has signed an appeal to the government of Kosovo on a matter of freedom of movement.
Almost 30 non-governmental organisations argue in the appeal that with the closure of the Kosovo Polje – Lešak rail service, citizens of Kosovo, especially the Serb minority, are unable to travel to Mitrovica to sell their goods and to conduct their business as they used to when the rail service was operational.

Read the appeal

Rapport om brudd på asylsøkernes menneskerettigheter i Hellas

(09/04-2008)

   Situasjonen for asylsøkere i Hellas er alarmerende. Tusenvis av asylsøkere lever under uverdige forhold, og uten noen form for rettssikkerhet. Sjansene for å få beskyttelse i Hellas er tilnærmet lik null. Å overføre asylsøkere til Hellas er uansvarlig.
   Les pressemelding Den norske Helsingforskomité og Norsk Organisasjon for Asylsøkere
   Les rapporten på norsk: Et uverdig sjansespill om asyl i Europa - Asylprosessen i Hellas og Dublin II-forordningen
   Les rapporten på engelsk: A gamble with the right to asylum in Europe: Greek asylum policy and the Dublin II Regulation

Joint media release on Kosovo:
EU Should Ensure International Mission is Accountable

(10/03-2008)

   Success will depend on effective scrutiny of human rights record, says Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
   In a joint statement today the three human rights organisations argue that the new European Union-led international mission to Kosovo must be subject to much greater scrutiny and accountability than its predecessor, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), if it is to succeed. The NATO-led Kosovo Force should also be subject to much greater scrutiny.
   "If the EU wants to assist in building respect for human rights and the rule of law in Kosovo, it needs to lead by example. That means that its mission accepts serious independent scrutiny of its human rights record from day one."
   Read the media release in

English

Albanian

Serbian

Breaking News Report:
State of emergency in Armenia

(07/03-2008)

Ph: Lene Wetteland in Yerevan. More photos

   Government must adhere to international law and should invite international investigations into unrest and government response to it.
   The outgoing President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency 1 March in order to restore order after violent clashes between demonstrators and police in central Yerevan. The demonstrators were challenging the official results of the 19 February Presidential elections, giving incumbent Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan 52.8 % of the vote.
   – International law sets strict criteria for declaring a state of emergency and limiting fundamental rights and freedoms, Deputy Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, says Gunnar M. Karlsen said.
   - In order to promote calm and reconciliation, the Armenian government should invite an independent investigation into the post-election violence and the government response to it.

Read the report

New staff member in Central Asia office

(05/03-2008)

   The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has hired a new staff member to the regional office in Central Asia.
   Elena Mamadnazarova (1975) is from Tajikistan and obtained her Degree in Secondary Education & Languages (English & German) from the University in Dushanbe. She has got extensive work experience in the area of civil society and non-governmental organisation (NGO) development.
   Before joining NHC she was worked for UNDP in Tajikistan overseeing the local governance and NGO/community development components of the program.
   The NHC Central Asia office is located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, headed by regional representative Ivar Dale. The regional office reports to NHC headquarters in Oslo on human rights developments in the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and administrates some of the NHC projects in the area.

EEA Grants and Civil Society
International conference on experiences and visions

(28/02-2008)

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Ministry of Foreign affairs host an NGO Fund Conference under the EEA Grants, Oslo February 28-29.
Among sixty participants are intermediaries from all beneficiary states where NGO-funds operate and Norwegian representatives from civil society organizations, foundations and social partners. They meet to:

share experiences and address and address common issues in the implementation of NGO Funds and projects
exchange and inform on the current status of the various Funds
provide input to the mid-term evaluation of the Financial Mechanisms currently under progress

The two-day conference takes place at the Red Cross Henri Dunant Conference Centre in Oslo.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee runs a project aiming to coordinate contact between NGOs in Norway and beneficiary countries. NHC has set up an NGO portal to facilitate the search for Norwegian NGOs for partnership projects under the EEA Grants. The portal contains information about the NGO funds, NGOs in Norway and a database for partner search.

   More information at The NGO Norway Information Portal: www.ngonorway.org

Welcome to seminar:
After Putin - Putin?

(26/02-2008)

Photo: NHC 2006

   Will a Dmitry Medvedev presidency mean a softening of the authoritarian practices associated with Vladimir Putin's rule?
   Prior to the Russian presidential election, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) and the Norwegian Union of Journalists (NUJ) host an open seminar on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s presidency, focusing especially on the prospects for independent media, the conflicts in the North Caucasus (including Chechnya), and what Norway can do.

                     Time: Wednesday 27 February, 9.30-12.00
                     Place: Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo

Irina Jasina: PhD, economist and journalist, the Regional Journalists’ Club and the Institute of Transitional Economy, Moscow
Grigory Shvedov, Director of the information agency memo.ru and member of the board of the International Society ‘Memorial’
Allon Groth, Foreign Policy Adviser of the Conservative Party’s Parliamentary Group, Stortinget
Bjørn Jacobsen, MP, Socialist Left Party, member of the Committee for Defense, Stortinget

Today our Russian guests met with representative of the Norwegian Parliament. During their stay in Oslo they will also meet with the Oil and Energy Department, the Norwegian Journalist Union, different media outlets and immigration authorities' Country of Origin Information Center.
Seminar program Short biography on Russian guests Full program 24-28 February

Presidential Elections Armenia:
Louder cries for international attention

(25/02-2008)

11 men on hunger strike

   After five days of demonstrating on Liberty Square, some demonstrators have taken a further step to get attention. 11 men are now on a hunger strike.
   The crowds started gathering on Liberty Square already on 20 February, and from the 21 have camped out in tents. The demonstrators are upset by the lack of international attention they get, and provoked by the foreign leaders who have congratulated Serge Sargsyan with the victory, and the OSCE and CIS reports that acknowledge the elections as more or less in accordance with international obligations.
   In response to the lack of attention, 7 men went on a hunger strike yesterday, and 4 more joined them by today. The men have sent an unclear petition to the European Commission, but state that it is better to die than to live with the government Armenia has now.
   – We want the world to know that there were no elections in Armenia, but violence, say the men on hunger strike.
   Davit is 25 years old and from Masis, a town not far from Yerevan. He was provoked by the way the Armenian media portrayed the situation under and after the elections, and decided to join Samvel Gevorgyan, a member of the Karabakh Committee, in his initiative to go on hunger strike yesterday.

OSCE on presidential elections in Armenia:
- Mostly in line with international standards

(20/02-2008)

International observers found the Armenian Presidential elections transparent and showing of good will, but underline that further improvement is needed.
The international observers presented their preliminary comments on the Armenian Presidential elections in press conferences on the day following the elections, 20 February. The observers from the OSCE said that the election process was “mostly in line with international standards, but further improvements necessary.” On careful reading of the complete statement, the OSCE statement describes several incidents that are not in line with international standards. Also, two members of the Central Election Commission were reluctant to sign the protocol that states that Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan is the new President of Armenia, and thousands of protesters gather in the streets of Yerevan.