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European Lawyers demand legal and political consequences
The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) denounces in the strongest terms the military attack by Israeli military forces on the Gaza aid flotilla in international waters, and the killing of at least 16 peaceful demonstrators. See BBC World News “Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship” at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10195838.stm.

Instead of acknowledging its responsibility for the crimes committed during the military attack on Gaza one and a half year ago – which have been documented in the UN “Goldstone Report” – and stopping its unlawful siege of Gaza, Israel is adding new crimes to its long record of unlawful actions.

The Gaza aid flotilla, originally comprising 8 ships carrying thousands of tons of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid, intended to sail to Gaza in order to deliver its humanitarian aid, and in order to break symbolically the unlawful blockade of Israel imposed on Gaza. Among the estimated 700 peace activists on board  were the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and European legislators. One participant was Professor Norman Paech (German MP for the Left Party up to 2009), who is also a member of the German lawyers association VDJ, a member association of ELDH.

ELDH demands that the United Nations and the European Union take all necessary political and legal steps to demonstrate to Israel that they are not prepared to accept such humanitarian atrocities and violations of international law.

In particular EDL demands

President of International Olympic Committee
Mr. Jacques Rogge

Dear Mr. Rogge,

Association of Russian Lawyers for Human rights expresses its concern in connection with flagrant violations of human rights and freedoms of residents of village Matveevka of Domodedovo city of Moscow Region in Russia during the preparation for Olympic Games in Sochi  2014.
We inform you, 04 September 2009 without any warnings and any agreements with residents of Matveeka, Municipality of Domodedovo city and Moscow regional authorities, Russian Government through its constructing companies began its own works of expansion of the high-speed highway M4 "DON" on 52nd kilometer to establish the Item tools at this site of the highway. The highway was planned to expand from two lanes to eleven at the expense of the plots which are privet property of the residents of Matveevka.
The builders had destroyed a single environmental boarder between the highway and the village, then the workers tried to demolish the private homes with the people inside.
Matveevka residents whose lives and property were in danger took to the streets.
In response to residents the builders referred to the decision of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about need to expand the highway M4 "DON" on the 52nd kilometer in connection with planning increase of vehicular traffic to the place of Olympic Games 2014 year.
We note that all the houses and the plots are private property of the citizens. The real estates according to the legislation registration as a private property of the citizens at federal, regional, and municipal bodies.

KHRP Issues Joint Statement Concerning the Arrest of Mr Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (ЭHD)

KHRP together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and The Law Society of England and Wales have issued the following co-signed statement expressing grave concern over the arrest and detention of Mr Muharrem Erbey, Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), and President of the IHD’s office in Diyarbakir. The statement is as follows:

In the very early hours of the morning on Christmas Eve 2009, lawyer Mr. Muharrem Erbey – Vice President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey ( Эnsan Haklarэ Derneрi or ЭHD) and President of the ЭHD’s branch office in Diyarbakэr, was detained by Anti-Terror Units of the Diyarbakэr Security Directorate as part of an operation launched simultaneously in 11 provinces of Turkey, in which more than 80 people were detained. The stated reason for Mr. Erbey’s detention was his alleged membership of the Kurdish Communities Union (Koma Ciwaken Kurdistan or KCK), which is said to be a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was subsequently arrested the following day and is currently being held in Diyarbakэr D-Type prison awaiting trial.

Professor Bill Bowring, President (London)

Professeure Monique CHEMILLIER- GENDREAU, Présidente d’honneur (Paris)

Thomas SCHMIDT (Rechtsanwalt) Secretary General (Duesseldorf)

Last September the ELDH Secretary General, Thomas Schmidt, visited the refugee camps of the Sahrawi

People in South-West Algeria, near Tindouf. He had extensive discussions with the families of Sahrawi

people who had been detained and subjected to forced “disappearance” in the zone occupied by Morocco.

He also spoke to the Sahrawi Human Rights association AFAPREDESA, to members of the exiled

Government, and to the exiled Constitutional Council.

For the last 35 years around 160.000 Sahrawi people in the refugee camps, as well as several hundred

thousand Sahrawi in the part of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco, have been denied by Morocco the

exercise of their right to self-determination. They are entitled in international law to a referendum that would

give them the possibility to vote for the independence of Western Sahara. The Kingdom of Morocco has

ignored numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council, as well as the Advisory Opinion of the International

Court of Justice of 1975. The Court held that it had not “found legal ties [to Morocco or Mauretania] of such a

nature as might affect the application of resolution 1514 (XV) in the decolonization of Western Sahara and, in

particular, of the principle of self-determination

through the free and genuine expression of the will of the peoples of the Territory.” (para 162, Opinion of 16

October 1975). Morocco’s actions are therefore unlawful in international law.

Russian Anti-Corruption Civil Society Center “Clean Hands” conducted the independent monitoring of present position of Russian civil society.
According to the monitoring, one of the evils corroding not only state bureaucratic system but also civil society is corruption.
Corruption in civil society is due to the same reasons as in State bodies - socio-economic, cultural, political reasons.
We remind that the following grants of various Russian and foreign sources have been provided in 2009 to develop democracy and human rights in Russia:
- European Commission - 4 684 557 euro;
- Public Chamber of Russian Federation - 1 billion 500 million rubles (50 million $)
- United States - 29 million dollars.
There is a fundamental difference between funding of foreign and domestic sources: ratio of funding of Russian sources and quality, efficiency of the real civil activities is easier to control, in this case theft up to one third of grants. Grants provided by foreign organizations are much more complicated to control. As a result, theft of foreign financial grants up to 90% and foreign (International) organizations receive regular standard reports of pseudo activities, actions, pickets. “Grant thieves” that specializing in getting foreign grants is easy to detect. Such organizations are noisy with comments about little reason and safe reasons, participate at conferences where only invited members of these organizations.
Practically all of their proposals and initiatives are populist - the real work is not done.