[ Human Rights ] An ODIHR delegation visited human rights defender Azimjan Askarov in prison in Bishkek on 15 December 2011. (OSCE/Bernhard Knoll) government authorities and civil society, offers policymakers, legislators and civil society representatives the resources and references necessary to advocate for the protection of the right to freedom of association, as well as to initiate and/or review legislation and practices. In order to review and discuss implementation of OSCE commitments and international standards on freedom of peaceful assembly, ODIHR observers monitored assemblies in eight participating States, collecting information on challenges and examples of good practices in meeting relevant OSCE commitments. The report will be published in 2012. In addition, the Office continued to monitor closely the situation of imprisoned human rights defenders: Evgheny Zhovtis (Kazakhstan), Azimjon Askarov (Kyrgystan) and Ales Bialiatski (Belarus). ODIHR officials visited Zhovtis on 3 September and Askarov on 15 December, and made public statements highlighting fair-trial issues. Between March and July, ODIHR monitors observed trials in Belarus of individuals who were charged with crimes in the aftermath of events in Minsk following the December 2010 elections. Trial monitoring was carried out to assess compliance of proceedings and relevant domestic law with international fair trial standards, to identify possible shortcomings in the criminal justice system, and to present recommendations aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice to 44 ODIHR Annual Report 2011 Belarusian authorities. The monitoring findings were published in a comprehensive report in November. ODIHR continued its activities aimed at strengthening National Human Rights Institutions by organizing a “Workshop on NHRIs on the Promotion of Women’s Rights and Gender Equality” on 28 and 29 March in Prague. On 14 and 15 April in Vienna, ODIHR organized the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM) on NHRIs (ombuds institutions, commissions, institutes and other mechanisms). During the meeting, NHRIs presented to participating States a list of recommendations agreed upon during a preparatory meeting for NHRIs, also organized by ODIHR. As a follow-up, the Office organized, jointly with the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship, a conference for NHRIs in the OSCE area on 13 and 14 July in ­Vilnius, aimed at promoting a deeper understanding of the relationships between the executive, parliaments, the judiciary and civil society, on one hand, and NHRIs on the other. From 14 to 16 September in Tashkent, ODIHR coled, with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, the Autumn School of the Ombudsperson Institution of Uzbekistan, focusing on international standards, good practices and their regional application. ODIHR co-organized, with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the