Coming on the eve of an EU-Russia summit, the suspicious death of an ex-Russian spy in London might have been expected to fuel animated discussions on Moscow’s human rights record between Western leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Uzbek police and security forces may have killed up to 1,000 unarmed civilians in recent unrest, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan said today.

Racism and religious intolerance are rising in Europe, with Muslims and Jews targeted in a misguided backlash against global terrorism and Middle East violence, delegates at an international conference said.

Chechnya’s president-elect pledged to bring peace and stability to his war-torn southern Russian region today after the Kremlin-backed candidate was elected in a vote tainted by allegations of fraud and overshadowed by fears of terrorism.