Prague Watchdog: Peace, Labour, May
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posted by eagle on May, 2009 as Human Rights
Peace, Labour, May
By German Sadulayev, special to Prague Watchdog St. Petersburg
I am definitely influenced by the weather. When it’s cold and damp and rainy I’m overcome by gloomy thoughts. But then the sun comes out, it’s springtime and the birds are singing! I want to live again! And, so as not to spoil one’s mood, one needs to read websites that are cheerful and amusing, likebash.org, udaff.com, anekdoty.ru or the official website of the President and Government of the Chechen Republic. Let’s do some reading. First, let’s read about May Day. Chechnya has just marked the Holiday of Spring and Labour. The officially-sponsored demonstrations involved more than 20,000 people in Grozny alone, and across the republic over 55, 000 took part. These were no straggling columns of pensioners in Moscow or evil anarchists in Athens. It was all done a decent, orderly fashion. Here are the photographs: white ... |
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Window On Eurasia: Existing Federal System Said A Threat To The Rights Of All Russia’s Citizens – Regardless Of Ethnicity
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posted by eagle on as Human Rights
Paul Goble
Vienna, May 5 – The existing system of ethnic autonomies in the Russian Federation – including both republics like Tatarstan and autonomous districts like Chukotka -- “violates the civil rights” of all Russian citizens and should be replaced with a system of autonomies at the district and settlement level, according to a Moscow commentator.
On the one hand, Yevgeny Trifonov argues, the current system means that the rights of non-titular nationalities like ethnic Russians are violated on the territories of these structures, and on the other, it means that the rights of the titular nationalities are violated beyond their borders like the Tatars (www.gazeta.ru/comments/2009/04/29_a_2980821.shtml).
And both because of such violations and because of the “ethnocratic” approach of governments in both places, not only are the rights of all Russian ...
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CK: World Press Freedom Day Statement
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posted by eagle on as Human Rights
World Press Freedom Day StatementBy the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders
Bazaleti, Georgia, May 3, 2009.
In honor of World Press Freedom Day May 3, 2009 the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders expresses its concern about the press freedom situations in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Bans on independent and opposition media outlets, censorship, and harassment of journalists remain serious concerns in all three countries. In addition, in Azerbaijan, unlike Georgia and Armenia, defamation is a criminal offence. In Armenia there is an emerging tendency to use the legal system to silence independent media. Recently, a reporter for Aravot and Chorrord Ishkhanutyunnewspapers, Gagik Shamshyan, was disproportionately fined for "disrespectful behavior to the court". A similar accusation is being used in the current case against Chorrord Ishkhanutyun journalist Gohar Veziryan. The editor of a popular online resource Hetq was beaten on November 11, 2008. On April 30, 2009 the coordinator of Armenia Today information agency, lawyer ...
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The Other Russia: Russian Deputies Try To Ban LOLspeak
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posted by eagle on as Human Rights
May 2nd, 2009 
Russian lawmakers are developing new measures to combat the spread of internet-slang into daily life. As the Novye Izvestiya newspaper reports, the project is still in its early stages, although ambitions run high. The hubbub over net-speak—purposeful misspellings and emoticons combining into what Russians call “Olbanian” (a made-up language in itself a misspelling of Albanian)–comes as Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, is preparing draft legislation to regulate all aspects of the Internet. One part of the law intends to control the language used by Russians to communicate online, according to Yelena Zelinskaya, the deputy-chairwoman of the Public Chamber Commission on Preserving Cultural Heritage. “There is very much good on the Internet, this is practically common sense,” she said. “But there are things that have a destructive effect on the younger generation. A child can’t distinguish between what is grammatically correct and incorrect. What do we do? ...
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North Caucasus Weekly: Memorial: More Kidnappings In Chechnya, More Killings In Ingushetia
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posted by eagle on as Human Rights
Memorial: More Kidnappings in Chechnya, More Killings in IngushetiaPublication: North Caucasus Weekly May 1, 2009 03:48 PM According to research by the Memorial human rights group, the number of kidnappings in Chechnya and people killed in violence in Ingushetia increased between January-April of this year, compared to the same period in 2008.
Kavkazky Uzel reported on April 27 that, according to Memorial, 34 people were kidnapped in Chechnya during January-April of this year, and that 20 of them were residents of the village of Dargo in the republic’s Vedeno district. Of the 34 people abducted, 27 were subsequently released, two were found murdered, two disappeared without a trace, and three were later discovered to be in prison and under investigation by the authorities. According to Memorial, seven people were abducted in Chechnya during January-April 2008 while 42 were abducted during all of 2008. Memorial concluded that the circumstances surrounding these abductions indicate that ...
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