Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-53: 12-Apr-02
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 53
06 - 12 April 2002
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Opium protest closes aid route
AFGHANISTAN: ICC spurs new calls for justice
AFGHANISTAN: UNHCR head travels to region
AFGHANISTAN: MSF concerned about repatriation drive from Iran
AFGHANISTAN: Repatriation from Iran begins
AFGHANISTAN: Foreign troops try to win hearts and minds
PAKISTAN: Focus on HIV/AIDS prevention
PAKISTAN: Military ruler seeks legitimacy through referendum
KAZAKHSTAN: World Economic Forum opens in Almaty
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap
AFGHANISTAN: Opium protest closes aid route
Opium farmers in southern and eastern Afghanistan organised angry
demonstrations and blockaded a major aid route on Tuesday after at least
eight people were killed during government attempts to ban the crop. The
deaths occurred on Monday in the southern province of Helm and when the
government tried to enforce a decree offering opium farmers a small
payment to destroy their valuable crop. The farmers were killed and
another 35 wounded after the interim government forces opened fire on
protesting farmers in the Kajaki district Helmand - Afghanistan's biggest
poppy growing area. Parts of the major international road connecting
Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan and the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad
were closed by protesting farmers on Tuesday. The blockade also prevented
aid convoys and returning refugees from reaching Jalalabad. Some convoys
were forced to turn back to Torkham.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27172&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: International Criminal Court spurs new calls for justice
A day after the birth of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Afghans
told IRIN they wanted investigations into gross human rights abuses as
part of the nation-building process. "We need an independent body in
Afghanistan to start compiling a list of the worst human rights abusers
followed by an effective judicial process," a member of the Loya Jirga
(grand council) commission who wished to remain anonymous fearing
reprisals, told IRIN on Friday. The ICC came into being on Thursday after
10 nations ratified the Rome statute of 1998, the treaty establishing the
court in principle. They took the number of ratifying countries well
beyond the 60 needed to put the treaty into effect. Speaking in New York,
Hans Correll, UN under secretary general, said: "A page in the history of
humankind is being turned. May all this serve our society well in the
years to come."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27238&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: UNHCR head travels to region
As part of a week-long mission to the region, UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, Ruud Lubbers will travel to the Iranian capital Tehran on
Saturday, highlighting UNHCR's ongoing commitment to assist hundreds of
thousands of Afghans return to their homeland. With stopovers in
Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, his visit coincides with a massive effort
to repatriate up to 800,000 Afghans back to their country this year.
During his visit to the region, his third since taking office in January
2001, Lubbers is scheduled to meet senior members of the Iranian
government, including Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, before
traveling to the eastern city of Mashad on Sunday to witness Afghans
returning home.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27217&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: MSF concerned about repatriation drive from Iran
Two days before the start of a major campaign to assist hundreds of
thousands of Afghans repatriate to their homeland from Iran, Medicins Sans
Frontieres (MSF), one of the leading international NGOs in the area,
raised serious concerns over the timing of the operation. "The date fixed
to begin the plan is certainly premature," MSF head of mission, Bruno
Jochum told IRIN from the Iranian capital, Tehran on Sunday. Not enough
time was given for UNHCR to prepare the programme properly, especially on
the Afghan side, he maintained.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27143&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Repatriation from Iran begins
A major effort to assist hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees in Iran
to go home was launched on Tuesday. Under the joint voluntary repatriation
programme between the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and the Iranian government, up to 400,000 could return
this year alone. About 146 people had voluntarily returned on the first
day - comprising 29 families and seven individuals, a UNHCR spokesman,
Mohammad Nourish, told IRIN from the Iranian capital, Tehran. "Everyone we
spoke to was hopeful to resume their lives inside Afghanistan," he said.
His remarks followed reports that thousands of Afghans throughout Iran
were registering to return - despite insecurity and dismal economic
opportunities back home. Indeed, a BBC report on Wednesday said the mass
response had taken officials by surprise, and many Afghans now faced a
long wait in the registration queue before beginning their long journey
home.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27197&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Foreign troops try to win hearts and minds
Although the 4,500-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
usually makes the news when there's a security breakdown in the Afghan
capital Kabul, the troops are trying make a name for themselves by winning
hearts and minds with a series of community-based quick impact projects.
Eager young soldiers from the multi-national force have been rolling up
their sleeves, renovating schools, restoring water supplies and repairing
roads all over town. "The more we interact, the more we become accepted
when working with the local population and the easier our job becomes,"
ISAF spokesman Flt Lt Tony Marshall told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27170&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
PAKISTAN: Focus on HIV/AIDS prevention
The HIV/AIDS epidemic threatening many other countries has not yet hit
Pakistan with full force though the risk of transmission remains high.
Male and female sex workers, truck drivers, unscreened blood transfusions
and needle sharing are the biggest dangers, officials and doctors told
IRIN. "Right now the prevalence of HIV is low, but there are a lot of risk
factors which can contribute to a high prevalence rate," Syed Sharaf Ali
Shah, director of the government's AIDS control programme in the southern
province of Sindh, told IRIN. "It is an opportunity for us to act and
prevent it now," he added.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27195&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Military ruler seeks legitimacy through referendum
President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf kicked off a public
campaign on Tuesday for a referendum to extend his rule for another five
years from October 2002, despite strong opposition from his critics, who
have labelled the exercise anti-democratic. "This is an unconstitutional
step," Iqbal Haider, constitutional expert and former law minister, told
IRIN from the port city of Karachi. "This shows disrespect and disregard
for democracy." Musharraf, who took over the country in a bloodless coup
in October 1999, has promised to hold elections by October this year,
upholding a Supreme Court deadline.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27173&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
KAZAKHSTAN: World Economic Forum opens in Almaty
The World Economic Forum's (WEF) second Eurasia Economic Summit opened on
Tuesday in Kazakhstan, bringing together 500 business participants,
members of the political establishment from Central Asia, the Caucasus and
surrounding areas, as well as academics and the media. Focusing on eight
core countries - five of them in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) and three in the Caucasus
(Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), discussion will also include the
surrounding area (China, Iran, Russia and Turkey), as well as other
nations (Afghanistan, India and Pakistan) which play an important part in
determining the fate of the core countries.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27174&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap
In a move widely seen as yet further recognition of Central Asia's growing
importance on the global stage following the events of 11 September, World
Bank Chief James Wolfensohn spent the past week on a five-country tour of
Central Asia to push for the introduction of poverty reduction schemes
designed to boost stability in a region riven by poverty, unemployment and
corruption. In a statement the bank said that Wolfensohn's tour focused
on, "the reforms needed to reduce poverty and promote equitable and
sustainable development."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27236&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
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