In recent years the Committee has been involved in training activities in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Moldova and has participated in Round Table discussions held by the Council of Europe. BHRC continues its partnership with the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) in training lawyers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) within the Russian Federation to take human rights cases to the European Court of Human Rights.

Armenia

BHRC and KHRP conducted training in Armenia in May and October 2005 on Article 41 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and on building awareness of remedies available under the ECHR system. After the training we met with applicants in Yerevan to gather further information about their cases before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and about the current human rights situation in the region.

Azerrbaijan

In July a BHRC expert was instructed on a pro bono basis to investigate the circumstances of a British national recently sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Georgia

In October a BHRC representative acted as an expert for the Council of Europe Round Table on the European Languages Charter, and in November a BHRC representative conducted training in Tbilisi on the ECHR, on behalf of the Council of Europe for Parliamentary Ombudsmen.

Moldova

In December a BHRC representative conducted training for human rights lawyers for the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) in Chisinau.

Russia

BHRC’s partnership with the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), based at London Metropolitan University, continues. EHRAC is mandated with assisting individuals, lawyers and NGOs within the Russian Federationin taking cases to the ECtHR. EHRAC is working to develop a sustainable network of linked NGOs within the Russian Federation to provide ongoing support for victims of human rights violations. Activities include training on various aspects of human rights law and procedure as well as dissemination of training materials to participants and the wider human rights community in Russia.

In February 2005 a BHRC representative was a judge at the Russian National Round for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. He also acted as an expert on Russian law in two extradition cases in the UK in March and October. In June BHRC collaborated with Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders to send a fact-finding investigation to Nizhnii Novgorod to investigate the situation concerning the actions of state bodies in relation to the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights.

In September 2005 BHRC conducted training together with EHRAC and Memorial, a Moscow based NGO, on Strategic Litigation using ECHR rights. A BHRC expert was a guest lecturer at Moscow State University and gave a presentation to over 100 students on ‘The Theory of Human Rights’. He represented the Council of Europe in Abakan, Republic of Khaskassia, at the International Conference on ‘Siberian Indigenous Languages and Cultures in a Changing Russia’ and presented a paper on the status of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages which included commentary on current signatures and ratifications, countries recently monitored and the results of that monitoring. In October BHRC sent a trial observer to Nizhnii Tagil to observe a judicial hearing within Corrective Colony No.13, the hearing of Mikhail Trepashkin’s renewed application for release on parole. On returning to observe trials in Nizhnii Novgorod in November, however, he was refused entry to Russia and then deported. We are currently pursuing this through diplomatic avenues and requesting explanation of the deportation.

Ukraine

BHRC sent a representative to Kyiv in October to act as an expert for the Council of Europe at a Round Table meeting on the draft Law on National-Cultural Autonomy.