U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 143
20 - 26 December 2003


CONTENTS:

IRAN: Four thousand dead in massive quake
IRAN: Mammoth vaccination drive will benefit 33 million
AFGHANISTAN: Women demand clear definition of 'citizen' in constitution
AFGHANISTAN: Progress being made at Loya Jirga
AFGHANISTAN: Debate over relations between aid community and the coalition
PAKISTAN: World Bank to fund rehabilitation of water sector
PAKISTAN: French journalists released on bail
PAKISTAN: French journalists still in jail
KYRGYZSTAN: Government proposes decriminalising media libel
KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on the problems of the blind
KYRGYZSTAN: Government proposes decriminalising media libel
TAJIKISTAN: Food security is "fragile" says WFP
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


IRAN: Four thousand dead in massive quake

At least four thousand people have been killed and an estimated 30,00
injured in an earthquake in southeast Iran early Friday morning, according
to Iranian state television. The death toll is set to rise still further -
a source has said that the death toll could be as high as 10,000.  The
historic city of Bam - a popular tourist destination with a population of
about 200,000 - is reported to have sustained the most damage. Local
television and radio reports say that between 70 - 80 per cent of the
buildings in Bam have been destroyed and electricity and telephone lines
are down. The Red Crescent have deployed 250 rescue workers to the area,
plus a group of medics, two helicopters, an ambulance, vehicles and
sniffer dogs. As well as medical equipment, the Red Crescent have also
sent 5,000 tents, blankets, tins of food, 900 heating devices, 10 mt of
sugar cubes and 4,473 cartons of bread.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38604&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


IRAN: Mammoth vaccination drive will benefit 33 million

About 22 million people have been vaccinated against measles and rubella
in what is the biggest-ever vaccination campaign in the world. The
three-week campaign now in progress aims to vaccinate a total of 33
million people aged between five and 25 - about half the country's
population. The campaign is not a response to the threat of an outbreak.
Although there has been an increase in the number of measles and rubella
cases in Iran over the last three years, with between 10,000 and 15,000
cases of measles this year, there has never been an epidemic. What Iran is
seeking to do is to fulfil its commitment to the UN to implement such
campaigns, with the global aim of eliminating measles by 2005. Another
major objective is to boost routine immunisations against measles and
rubella, enabling the focus to be on children under five; more under-fives
die of measles than of anything else.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38550&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


AFGHANISTAN: Women demand clear definition of 'citizen' in constitution

As Afghanistan's historic Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ) continues its
deliberations, women delegates - who make up just 20 percent of the
500-member gathering - and local gender pressure groups are pushing for
women's rights to be fully enshrined in the nation's new constitution.
"The draft constitution and the discussions so far have not been fully
supportive to women. This is important in our conservative, male-dominated
society," Gulalai Habib, a local activist, told IRIN on Thursday. "Women
are outnumbered, our views at the CLJ will always remain a minority," she
added, noting that warlords and conservative mujahidin commanders
dominated many of the CLJ's working committees.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38612&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Progress being made at Loya Jirga

According to a spokeswoman for the Constitutional Loya Jirga (CLJ), the
historic gathering is finally making progress, but there is still no
indication when the UN-supervised meeting will end. President Hamid Karzai
said at the weekend that he hoped it would conclude its proceedings by the
end of December. "Finally we started the work of the reconciliation
committee this morning, but it will take hopefully a day and half before
we convene the last session of the general assembly," Safiya Siddiqi told
IRIN on Monday. She said the reconciliation committee was meeting to
coordinate and unify opinions and concerns of delegates raised in the
CLJ's 10 working committees. "Only those items that are not solved in the
reconciliation committee will be re-discussed in the general session,"
Siddiqi said, adding that the committee had not yet collected all the
opinions of the delegates.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38571&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Debate over relations between aid community and the coalition

A recent declaration by the new US commander in Afghanistan, Lt-Gen David
Barno, to the effect that aid groups must accept that they can no longer
be neutral, has prompted discussion about the role of humanitarain
organisations in regions where security is poor. His comments followed a
series of attacks on UN and NGO aid workers in the south over the past two
months. Such attacks have forced the UN and other aid groups to withdraw
from some regions, thereby undermining aid delivery and confidence in the
reconstruction efforts of the US-backed government ahead of elections
slated for June.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38593&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


PAKISTAN: World Bank to fund rehabilitation of water sector

The World Bank is considering giving Pakistan a loan specifically to
strengthen its irrigation network and water-storage capacity as part of a
scaled-up programme for the water sector, according to an a Pakistani
official. "The minister for water and power was told during a visit by a
World Bank mission about a month ago that the bank wants to come up with a
scaled-up programme for the water sector," Zarar Aslam, a joint secretary
in the water and power ministry, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad, on
Tuesday. Aslam said he was unsure as to the exact sum the bank was
expected to disburse for the rehabilitation of the irrigation network, but
an earlier report in Dawn, a leading English broadsheet, quoted a senior
finance ministry official as saying the World Bank had agreed to offer US
$1 billion over a three-year period for a much-needed overhaul of a system
regarded by experts as out-dated and inefficient.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38578&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: French journalists released on bail

Two French journalists arrested from their Karachi hotel on 16 December
for a visa violation were finally granted bail by a Sindh high court judge
on Wednesday, after an earlier application was rejected by a lower-court
judge on 20 December. "They have been granted bail and will be released
from prison later today," Nafis Siddiqui, the journalists' lawyer, told
IRIN from the southern port city. "Bail has been set at 100,000 rupees
[about US $1,800] each for the two men." Marc Epstein, a reporter, and his
photographer, Jean-Paul Guilloteau, of the French news weekly L'Express
were arrested from their up-market Karachi hotel on 16 December and face
up to three years in prison for violating the Foreigners Act of 1946 by
visiting the Quetta region in the southwestern province of Balochistan,
which borders Afghanistan, without special permission from the government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38592&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: French journalists still in jail

Two French journalists arrested on 16 December on charges of visiting the
Quetta area without official permission, have had their bail application
turned down. "I obtained the order for the rejection of bail about an hour
ago. I've had a look at it and will be filing bail applications for both
these men tomorrow," Nafis Siddiqui, counsel for the two detained
journalists, told IRIN from the southern port city of Karachi on Monday.
Marc Epstein and Jean-Paul Guilloteau, reporter and photographer,
respectively, for the French news weekly L'Express, face up to three years
in prison for violating the Foreigners Act of 1946 after they admitted
visiting the city of Quetta in Pakistan's southwestern province of
Balochistan, which borders on Afghanistan, without special permission from
the government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38555&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Government proposes decriminalising media libel

President Askar Akayev has placed a new bill before Kyrgyzstan's
parliament on decriminalising media libel, seen as a positive step by some
experts. "The draft law consists of two parts, the first one is abolishing
criminal charges for libel and the second is introduction of duty on a
suit's total amount [of damages]," Dosaly Esenaliev, the head of the
presidential press service, told IRIN from the capital, Bishkek. According
to Esenaliev, the bill proposes dropping some provisions of the Criminal
Code defining criminal responsibility for libel as insulting a person's
honour and dignity in a public statement or the mass media. The current
law says a person convicted of libel in court can be imprisoned for three
years. The bill also proposes some amendments to the law on state duty,
envisaging introduction of a certain sum to be paid before suits on
protection of honour, dignity and business reputation of persons can be
considered by court.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38594&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Focus on the problems of the blind

Nineteen-year-old Julia Janvanchikova has studied at the Kyrgyz Russian
Slavic University in the capital, Bishkek, majoring in English language
teaching and interpreting. "When I was 13, I lost the sight of one eye. In
2002, I had a brain injury, and after that totally lost my sight [cause:
detachment of retina]. I had never thought it could ever happen with me,"
she told IRIN. "I had a very deep psychological depression for one long
year. Now I am unable to imagine myself going with a walking stick. Also I
am afraid of being independent. Most of the time I spent at home. I talked
with other invalids, they helped me," Janvanchikova added. "Annually from
500 up to 600 people become blind to some degree," Kalyk Mambetakunov, the
president of the Kyrgyz Society of the Blind and Deaf (KSBD), told IRIN in
Bishkek. "There's no special rehabilitation centre in Kyrgyzstan for them.
We help them as best we can."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38554&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Government proposes decriminalising media libel

President Askar Akayev has placed a new bill before Kyrgyzstan's
parliament on decriminalising media libel, seen as a positive step by some
experts. "The draft law consists of two parts, the first one is abolishing
criminal charges for libel and the second is introduction of duty on a
suit's total amount [of damages]," Dosaly Esenaliev, the head of the
presidential press service, told IRIN from the capital, Bishkek. According
to Esenaliev, the bill proposes dropping some provisions of the Criminal
Code defining criminal responsibility for libel as insulting a person's
honour and dignity in a public statement or the mass media. The current
law says a person convicted of libel in court can be imprisoned for three
years. The bill also proposes some amendments to the law on state duty,
envisaging introduction of a certain sum to be paid before suits on
protection of honour, dignity and business reputation of persons can be
considered by court.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38594&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


TAJIKISTAN: Food security is "fragile" says WFP

Food security for the poorest stratum of Tajikistan's 6.5 million
population - about 300,000 of them - remains fragile, despite a good
harvest this year. The country was the poorest of the former Soviet
Central Asian republics, and remains so to this day. "In addition to being
a low-income, food-deficit country, Tajikistan cannot feed itself," Ardag
Meghdessian, the country director for the World Food Programme (WFP), told
IRIN in the capital, Dushanbe, noting that the country produced only half
of what it needed. "For the foreseeable future, Tajikistan will be needing
all the assistance it can get, including food assistance," he said,
describing the country's food security situation as "fragile".

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38570&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan had agreed to seek ways of establishing a
framework providing for joint use of water and energy in the first six
months of 2004, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev reportedly said on
Thursday, following talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Askar Akayev, in
the Kazakh capital, Astana. "A treaty on allied relations between the two
countries and a protocol on economic cooperation were signed, in which we
determined tasks for the two governments to explore the possibility of
setting up a joint venture at the Naryn and Syr Darya cascades during the
first half of the year," Nazarbayev said. The number of tuberculosis (TB)
sufferers had fallen in Kazakh prisons, the Kazakh media reported on
Wednesday. "Thanks to measures that have been taken, a trend is being
observed towards a fall in the number of convicts who are suffering from
TB, and the number of TB cases with a lethal outcome has also fallen," the
report said, quoting Deputy Justice Minister Sabyrzhan Bekbosynov. There
were 6,417 TB sufferers as of November 2003, while the figure for the same
period of 2002 was 7,901.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38613&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


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