Watchdog

Ten activists in the Russian city of Orenburg have held a public demonstration to protest torture in the region, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The activists of the Orenburg branch of the Interregional Committee Against Torture (MKPP) told RFE/RL that the number of police surrounding them was twice as many as the number of protesters.

They said the main obstacle to eliminating torture in Orenburg Oblast is the passivity of local prosecutors.

They also said that despite their small number they have managed to attract attention to the problem.

In the last two years, the Orenburg branch of the MKPP has received 150 appeals from local citizens who claimed they had faced torture.

Local courts have found three claims to be true.

ASTANA -- Kazakhstan's parliament has adopted controversial amendments to the Law on Information and Communications Networks, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The law now goes to President Nursultan Nazarbaev for his signature.

Under the amendments, all online resources, including chats, blogs, and forums, are considered mass media in Kazakhstan.

The changes will allow officials to prosecute owners of online resources and shut down websites, including those based abroad.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had urged Kazakhstan not to adopt the amendments, saying they might be used to block online resources for Internet users in the country.

Kazakhstan is scheduled to chair the OSCE next year.