From November 6 to 9, Azerbaijan will host the Internet Governance Forum, an annual meeting convened by the United Nations secretary general that brings together governments, civil society, and other actors as equal partners to discuss public policy issues relating to the internet.

President Bashar al-Assad should release all peaceful activists, media professionals, and humanitarian assistance providers as part of an amnesty announced on October 23, 2012, Human Rights Watch, Alkarama, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Index on Censorship, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Reporters Without Borders, and Samir Kassir Foundation – Skeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom said today. These persons have been detained purely for exercising their basic rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, or for assisting others and therefore should not have been detained or prosecuted in the first place, the groups said.

The Erbil Appellate Court should immediately set aside the October 7, 2012, conviction of an independent journalist who reported on alleged corruption in the regional government’s security agency. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into allegations that the journalist, Karzam Karim, was beaten and tortured in detention and that his lawyer was threatened by security agency officials.

The reports on Somalia presented to this session by the Independent Expert and the Secretary-General highlight the urgent need for a significant reinforcement of the presence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its activities, notably its monitoring work, on Somalia.