The seven activists were arrested on Lubyanka Square [home to the FSB] where they had tried, with Geiger counters to measure the level of radiation and to find any traces of Polonium-210 which was used to poison Alexander Litvinenko in London

It has refused to ratify the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights which regulates the work of the European Court of Human Rights

The Octyabrsky District Court in Ivanovo has found the refusal to grant temporary asylum unlawful and said that the Federal Migration Service had not provided sufficient evidence that the applicants would not face the threat of torture if returned to Uzbekistan and had ignored documents suggesting that they would

The General Secretary of the Russian Union of Journalists states that over recent years 211 journalists have been killed in Russia and stresses that they were killed “for journalism, for telling citizens of Russia and the entire world about what is happening in the country”,

Vladimir Bukreyev’s lawyers and human rights activists are in no doubt that the “case of the judge” is linked with his having sentenced Colonel Budanov in 2003 to ten years imprisonment for murdering an 18-year-old Chechen Elza Kungaeva

Participants in the Third All-Russian Civic Congress acknowledge bitterly that in Russia which considers itself a democratic country there are once again political prisoners, and punitive psychiatry would also appear to be raising its ugly head

Despite a number of amendments introduced by the Uzbek authorities to legislation, Manfred Novak says that the situation, recently and particular since the Andijon events has deteriorated.

The city authorities "justify" their ban by saying that the public procession would substantially limit pedestrian access for ordinary citizens, and that this would therefore be in violation of Article 17 of the Russian Constitution which states that the rights of some citizens must not infringe the rights of others

Around 40 protesters formed a human chain on October Square in Minsk on Human Rights Day, holding photos of the former Belarusian presidential candidate Aleksandr Kazulin and other imprisoned members of the opposition.

Aleksandr Kazulin has been on hunger strike since 20 October, demanding that the violation of human rights in Belarus be discussed in the UN Security Council. Members of his family report that his condition is critical.

On 8 December 500 people declared a hunger strike to express their support for imprisoned ex-presidential candidate Aleksandr Kazulin who has been on indefinite hunger strike now for 50 days

The Belarusian ex-presidential candidate who is serving a five and a half year sentence is protesting against the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko and refuses to end his seven-week long hunger strike

The author believes that the only explanation for extraordinary discrepancies is that both FMS and MIA played a secondary role, with “first fiddle” played by the FSB which tried to disguise the extradition of Rustam Muminov as an administrative deportation

The Belarusian Ministry of Justice is continuing its attempts to get this last legal human rights organization closed down

A 50-year-old Georgian national Manana Djabeliya died on 2 December in a Russian holding centre, two months after being detained as Georgian, despite being registered in Moscow, and two days after her appeal against deportation was upheld.

If one considers the cases of Muminov and the "Ivanovo Uzbeks" together, the conclusion is clear that at the present time in issues involving extradition from Russia to Uzbekistan only those whose violated rights are no longer able to be “repaired” can hope for justice.

Despite an obvious mistake which border guards should have picked up, Milinkevich was detained for several hours on his return from the NATO summit, and could now face either 2 months imprisonment or a massive fine

On 28 November the Russian Supreme Court rejected the cassation appeal lodged by the “Ivanovo Uzbeks” against the decision of the RF Prosecutor General to have them extradited to Uzbekistan. This means that the extradition ruling has now entered into force, despite the fact that these people are UNHCR mandate refugees and despite clear discrepancies in the arguments presented for their extradition

On behalf of her husband, she asks that at least one of the member states of the G8 raises the issue of Belarus in the UN Security Council

A number of well-known Belarusian cultural figures, human rights activists and opposition politicians have called on President Viktor Yushchenko to defend civic society and democratic institutions in Belarus