NEWSLETTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE NETWORK

1 Azerbaijan: Journalist murdered
Elmar Huseynov, a prominent journalist and chief editor of the outspoken opposition journal MONITOR, was brutally killed at the entrance of his apartment on Wednesday. In a letter to President Aliyev , the Human Rights House Foundation (HRH) strongly condemns the murder and calls for an impartial investigation.

2 Sierra Leonean journalist faces new threats
Jailed Sierra Leonean journalist Paul Kamara has been moved to solitary confinement. Following reports that he has been threatened with violence by army officers, his wife has expressed fears for his life. Paul Kamara was nominated for the Index on Censorship / The Guardian - Hugo Young Award for Journalism this week.

3 Kurdish human rights defender released!
Remzi Kartal, the Kurdish politician and human rights defender that we wrote about in our last newsletter, has been released from custody in Germany with guarantees that he will not be extradited to Turkey.

4 Uganda: Constitutional bill goes public amidst mounting criticism
Last week, the parliamentary committee on legal affairs began the public hearings on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2005. Bowing to pressure from close to a hundred NGOs, the committee has agreed to hear their opinions. - This meeting takes place today, and may be decisive for the climate of communication between state and civil society on the Constitution issue for a long time to come, says HRH's Niels Jacob Harbitz.

5 Soldiers' Mothers met Chechen rebels
Four activists from the Union of Soldiers’ Mothers Committee met Chechen rebel Aslan Maskhadov’s envoy in London last Friday and discussed how to stop the war in Chechnya. - All member organisations of the Russian Research Center for Human Rights support the peace initiative, the Center's Director Liubov Vinogradova told HRH.

6 Norway earns big bucks on Total Oil's investments in Burma
While the Norwegian Prime Minister warns private investors against getting involved in Burma, the state-owned Norwegian Petroleum Fund has Total Oil as its biggest investment. Total Oil was outed in our last newsletter as one of the worst blind-eye silent collaborators to the Burmese regime's gross human rights violations. Aase Sand in the Norwegian Burma Committee says the Norwegian double standards display an unprincipled weakness.

7 Rebiya Kadeer cried with joy
Four months after being awarded the Rafto Memorial Prize, Rebiya Kadeer finally received the news last month. She cried with joy, her son Mustafa told the newspaper Bergens Tidende. 58 year old Kadeer is currently in prison. For years she has been fighting for the Uyghur minority’s basic rights in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

8 Mines to be removed in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina has decided to support the removal of all mines in populated areas by 2009. The other minefields will be marked permanently . Today, the country is one of the world's most affected.

9 North Korea: "We have heard your cries and know your suffering"
Four members of the Human Rights House Network were in Seoul last month together with representatives from eleven countries to "affirm to the people of the world, especially to the people of the Democratic People´s Republic of North Korea, that they are entitled to the same freedoms, democratic values and human rights enjoyed by free people everywhere and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", as the resolution reads.

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Sent by:

Borghild Tønnessen-Krokan
Editor/Project Manager
The Human Rights House Foundation (HRH)
Address: Menneskerettighetshuset,
Tordenskioldsgate 6b, 0160 Oslo, Norway
Tel: (+47) 22 47 92 47, Direct: (+47) 22 47 92 44,
Fax: (+47) 22 47 92 01
Website: http://www.humanrightshouse.org,
http://www.menneskerettigheter.no