http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fundamentals/index.aspennoemail@noemail.org (HRF)Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:52:28 PDTBlogger http://www.blogger.com4125http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fundamentals/2008/03/insulting-snowman.aspNeilMon, 31 Mar 2008 09:42:16 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3376795391213861690.post-7501562295680893072 On March 21, 2008 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia police arrested five activists for insulting a snowman. Protesting a series of raids on the homes of non-violent government critics, including against staff members of the Nizhny Novgorod Foundation for the Promotion of Tolerance the previous day, a small group of young activists built a snowman outside the prosecutor’s office. They attached a sign http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fundamentals/2008/03/is-bush-administration-pushing-pakistan.aspPakistanNeilFri, 14 Mar 2008 13:50:54 PDTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3376795391213861690.post-8402436867891320886March 5, 2008 For months Human Rights First has been urging the Bush administration to speak up in support of the dozens of senior judges ousted by Musharraf last November. Then, after the elections, we began hearing news reports that the Bush Administration was in fact urging Pakistani politicians to abandon efforts to return them to the bench. As part of our effort to get to the bottom of http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fundamentals/2008/02/brutal-consequences-of-unchecked-power.aspRussiaNeilTue, 12 Feb 2008 09:37:20 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3376795391213861690.post-4548036974800616266February 12, 2007 For brazen disregard of minimal standards of human decency few things match the Russian government’s vindictive treatment of Vasily Alexanyan, a former vice-president of the Yukos energy conglomerate, currently in prison awaiting trial for alleged money laundering, dying from AIDS. The authorities have been refusing to provide him with the essential life saving medication he http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/fundamentals/2008/01/shopworn-excuses-from-egypt.aspEgyptNeilFri, 01 Feb 2008 11:39:19 PSTtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3376795391213861690.post-7807680665705128209January 30, 2008: Are international human rights agreements worth the paper they are printed on? Recent statements by the Egyptian government with respect to its human rights commitments under the Association Agreement it signed with the European Union in 2004 might seem to suggest that such agreements have little meaning. The Egyptian government reacted furiously to a resolution passed by the