KHOROG, May 19, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- An office of the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Order (BHR) was opened in GBAO’s Ishakshim district yesterday.

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the head of BHR’s branch for Gorno Badakhshan Manouchehr Kholiqnazarov said the office would make available free consultations on legal issues to the Ishkashim residents.  The office is dedicated to raise legal awareness of the population and help them protect their rights and interests.

The BHR’s office in Ishkashim was opened under support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. The Endowment is governed by an independent, nonpartisan board of directors. With its annual congressional appropriation, it makes hundreds of grants each year to support prodemocracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.

The BHR’s branch for Gorno Badakhshan now has two offices – in Khorog and Ishkashim.  Another office is expected to be opened in the Murgab district within the next few days.

The BHR’s branch currently also organizes consultations in Rushan, Shugnan and Roshtqala districts within the framework of the “Access to Justice” project, which is funded by Oxfam Novib.  It has also been implementing the “Access to Justice in Khorog” project in the region under financial support of the Open Society Institute Budapest.  Another one project has been implemented in cooperation with the Human Rights Center, Kholiqnazarov said.

The BHR’s branch has worked in Gorno Badakhshan since May 2008.  Before that the BHR’s office had worked in the region since 2006; it was upgraded into the branch in May 2008.