Our Collective Conscience •  across all 56 OSCE participating States for the period April 2006 to April 2007. It is based on information published by international organizations and non-governmental organizations. Yet, in addition to challenges resulting from violations of the rights of human rights defenders, there have also been considerable positive developments in a number of OSCE participating States: • Criminal-law reforms carried out in Turkey in recent years, for instance, amended articles of the Penal Code that were frequently used against human rights defenders;7 • Azerbaijan granted access to prisons to the ombudsperson and to local and international NGOs, as well as to human rights defenders;8 • Ukraine is currently modernizing its legislation on civil society organizations in compliance with the Council of Europe’s Fundamental Principles on the Status of Non-governmental Organisations in Europe;9 • Kazakhstan reduced the state registration fees for all legal entities, including NGOs;10 • Kyrgyz lawmakers adopted a freedom-of-information bill that lays out broad access for citizens and residents to information that is not deemed to be a commercial or state secret;11 • The Ombudsman for Human Rights of the Russian Federation prepared a report on freedom of assembly that covers a range of issues related to the enjoyment of this right.12 7 For example, Articles 159 (insulting the state and state institutions), 169 (aiding and abetting terrorist organizations), and 312, para. 2 (incitement to enmity and hatred) of the Turkish Penal Code; UN SRSG on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, Report on her Mission to Turkey, E/ CN.4/2005/101/Add.3, 18 January 2005, <http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/defenders/visits.htm>. 8 PACE, Resolution 1545 (2007), “Honouring of obligations and commitments by Azerbaijan”, 16 April 2007, <http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta07/ERES1545.htm>. 9 OSCE/ODIHR , “Opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on Civil Society Organizations”, Warsaw, 22 June 2007, <http://www.legislationline.org/upload/lawreviews/07/12/fb04348a596cbe89cb7196231b 31.pdf>. 10 The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Decree No. 1324 “On Introducing Changes to the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, December 19, 2001, No. 1660”, 30 December 2005, <http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/news/2006/01-17_RegistrationRatesKazak06.doc>. 11 ODIHR’s Legislationline website, <http://www.legislationline.org/news.php?tid=1&jid=29>. 12 Ombudsman for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, “O soblyudenii na territorii Rossiiskoi Federatsii konstitutsionnogo prava na mirnye sobrania” [Monitoring the Constitutional Right to Peaceful Assembly on the Territory of the Russian Federation], 26 June 2007, <http://www.ombudsman.gov.ru/ doc/spdoc/0107.shtml>.