TODAY: Amnesty International appeals to Medvedev for a “sea-change”; NGO head smuggling case overturned, Prosecutor General promises to remedy the thousands of wrongful charges made each year; McCain vows to work more closely with Russia; Moscow continues to deny involvement with Georgia. Putin appointed prime minister of Russia-Belarus alliance. Amnesty International is calling on governments worldwide to recommit themselves to observing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Their new report highlights a rise in race-hate attacks in Russia, the authorities’ increasing intolerance of dissent, and ongoing human rights violations in the North Caucasus. And a special memorandum to Dmitry Medvedev said “Amnesty International looks to you as the president of Russia to initiate a sea-change in direction in terms of freedom of expression”. The head of a US-funded NGO charged with smuggling in Russia has had her case overturned because “the anti-smuggling law under which she had been charged was so vaguely worded as to be unconstitutional.” The Prosecutor General said that thousands of people are wrongly charged every year, due in part to an overreliance on witness testimony rather than hard evidence, and has “promised measures to remedy the situation”.