One by one, they come. They talk about the incessant beatings, the water that was poured over their nose and throat until they couldn’t breathe and the bricks that were tied to their testicles. One says a soldier cocked a gun in his mouth and said “Now you’re dead.” Another recounts how a bagful of chopped, fresh red pepper was pulled over his head, how his eyes and skin felt like they were on fire and he couldn’t breathe. A young man says dead bodies were dropped off in his room, and he was ordered to clean off the blood. Right, demonstration of torture in Karamoja. (15-MAY-08)
 

Mount Elgon residents have begun disclosing the atrocities meted on them by a criminal gang that has been terrorising them before the joint military and police ´Operation Okoa Maisha´ was launched early this year. The Saboti land Defence Force militia employed methods of torture reminiscent of West Africa in the 90s, including chopping off their victims´ ears on flimsy accusations like drunkenness, cutting down maize stalks, refusing to join the SLDF or paying membership fee. (15-MAY-08)
 

Today, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) presents a report documenting that the situation in the Russian parts of Northern Caucasus remains the worst human rights crisis in Europe. A Regional System of Torture, Forced Confessions and Fabricated Trials shows how Russian authorities abuse the court system in their ongoing anti-terror operation. (14-MAY-08)
 

The African Commission on Human and Peoples´ Rights (ACHPR) has released a newsletter published by the Commission´s Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders Reine Alapini-Gansou, right, highlighting the importance of the right to freedom of association.  The newsletter includes articles on the contribution of associations in the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, current international law on the topic of freedom of association, and examples of the implementation of this right at the national level in Africa. (13-MAY-08) 
 

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) condemn the violations of human rights committed by Kenya army members in Mount Elgon, Western Kenya. According to a report released last month by the Kenyan NGO Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), the military operation resulted in mass arrests, subsequent prosecution of over twelve hundred persons, and torture. (13-MAY-08)
 

An American-Vietnamese political activist was sentenced to six months jail in a one-day trial, but he will be deported at the weekend as he had already served the time, U.S. embassy officials and his party said on Tuesday. Nguyen Quoc Quan, right, 54, an engineer from Sacramento, California, was arrested last November along with several other activists of the Viet Tan (Vietnam Reform Party) who were preparing to distribute leaflets opposed to one-party rule. (13-MAY-08)
 

Former Polish President Lech Walesa has been awarded a gilded pigeon statuette, funded on the 60th anniversary of adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly. Lech Walesa received the award on account of his contributions to human rights issues. (12-MAY-08)