Manchester United?

Returning to my home town of Manchester this week, I've found little I recognise. The Labour Party Conference is once again dominating the city centre, complete with the associated security, the highly visible yellow plastic barriers which mark the ‘secure zone' behind which hurried-looking delegates and politicians rush between hotels and the GMEX conference centre. Interestingly enough, just down the road, freshers' week is in full swing too. Yet Mancunians are left to look on as students and politicians alike set about frantic and sometimes alcohol-fuelled networking, apparently oblivious to each other and the impact they're having on the city.

By IPPR, UK.

Governance Policy Resource.

Disappearances and Impunity in North Caucusus

Counter-terrorism operations" conducted by Russian military and security forces in Chechnya since 1999 have resulted in the enforced disappearances of over 3,000 people who remain missing. Due to the lack of adequate investigation and prosecution, the problem has spread to the neighboring republics in the North Caucasus. “Missing Lives” (co-produced by Memorial/WITNESS, 2007) addresses the culture of impunity surrounding these abductions and the damage done in the lives of people whose loved have vanished. The video provides insight into the struggle of relatives trying to break through the system of lawlessness to seek information and redress for the crimes of enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

By Witness, USA.

Human Rights Policy Resource.