After months of increased tension, and recent low-level hostilities,
the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia
escalated in the early morning of 8 August 2008.
Amnesty International has called on all sides to the conflict in South
Ossetia to fully respect international humanitarian law in order that
civilians are protected from hostilities.
Organizers of an exhibition in Moscow are charged with inciting hatred and denigration of human dignity because of some of the objects on show.
The Gay Pride march in Riga on Saturday may have passed
largely without incident, but elsewhere in Europe, the right of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to claim their
rights and celebrate their identity is under threat.
European Court of Human Rights strongly supports allegations that Aminat Dugaeva and Kurbika Zinabdieva were abducted by Russian servicemen.
There has been a clampdown on the freedoms of assembly and expression
in the run-up to parliamentary and presidential elections in the
Russian Federation.
The space for human rights activists, independent organizations and
media to operate and to express critical views in the Russian
Federation has been gradually and progressively curtailed in recent
years
Russia: 22-year-old Artur Akhmatkhanov was grabbed by masked
soldiers and bundled into an armoured personnel carrier in 2003; he has not
been seen since.
As a second trial against former YUKOS oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovskii and his associate Platon Lebedev draws closer, Amnesty International urges the Office of the Prosecutor General to ensure their right to a fair trial in accordance with international law and standards.
The Russian authorities displayed a systematic disregard for basic human
rights in the run-up to parliamentary elections.
