Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-155: 19-Mar-04
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia
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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 155
13 - 19 March 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Faction fighting flares up in Oruzgan Province
AFGHANISTAN: Japan announces further contribution for disarmament
CENTRAL ASIA: UNDP launches natural disaster report
CENTRAL ASIA: Special report on labour migrants in Russia
CENTRAL ASIA: Regional conference on arms proliferation underway CENTRAL
ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: Controversy over earthquake relief funds
KAZAKHSTAN: Landslide kills 28 in south
PAKISTAN: IOM launches initiative to combat human trafficking
PAKISTAN: UNHCR repatriation programme extended to Quetta
PAKISTAN: Rights group sets up first ever helpline
PAKISTAN: Human rights commission launches annual report
TAJIKISTAN: Health ministry requests help to eradicate measles
TAJIKISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: ADB to modernise energy sector in Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan
TURKMENISTAN: Religious leader arrested and imprisoned
TURKMENISTAN: OHCHR to conclude first working mission
UZBEKISTAN: Poverty fuelling southern sex trade
AFGHANISTAN: Faction fighting flares up in Oruzgan Province
Following a series of serious human rights abuses in the Daikundi district
of the central province of Oruzgan, the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission (AIHRC0) said factional rivalries continue to remain a serious
concern. AIHRC's comments follow a report from security officials in
Daikundi early this week that four civilians had been killed and many
families forcibly displaced after fighting erupted between two local
commanders in the isolated district.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40080&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Japan announces further contribution for disarmament
With Afghanistan's disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR)
programme still in its pilot phase with only a few thousand ex-soldiers
disarmed to date, Tokyo announced on Thursday another US $24.5 million
contribution to the process. The money will be used to help demobilise up
to 35,000 combatants before the country's forthcoming elections scheduled
later this year. The DDR process is designed to demobilise and reintegrate
100,000 ex-combatants over three years.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40139&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: UNDP launches natural disaster report
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently launched in the
Uzbek capital, Tashkent, a global report entitled "Reduction of
catastrophe risk: the task of development". According to Eric de Mul,
acting UNDP permanent representative in Uzbekistan, it is aimed at
promoting disaster risk reduction through identifying appropriate
development policies.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40055&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Special report on labour migrants in Russia
Over the past five years, Russia has become the primary destination for
labour migrants from Central Asia. Fuelled by poverty and unemployment,
labour experts say the number of unskilled workers from the region in
major Russian provincial cities continues to rise, with construction firms
and service providers keen on hiring cheap illegal labour.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40107&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Regional conference on arms proliferation underway
A regional conference on small arms proliferation taking place in the
Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, focusing on problems surrounding the
illegal trade in weapons in Central Asia, is proceeding as expected. The
government of Kazakhstan is very concerned about the illegal trade in
weapons in the country and the rest of Central Asia, so the authorities of
the Ministries of the Interior, Defence and Foreign Affairs are now
discussing this problem in order to reduce the illegal trade."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40105&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
An avalanche buried a house in southern Kyrgyzstan, killing one man, while
the threat of more snow slides forced the closure of the country's main
north-south highway, the AP reported on Wednesday. The man died after snow
covered his house on Tuesday in the Kara-Kulja district, some 700 km south
of the capital, Bishkek, according to the emergency ministry. Avalanches
in central Kyrgyzstan blocked the road between Bishkek and the town of
Naryn, and the ministry said the risk of more prompted authorities to
close the only highway connecting the capital and the main southern city,
Osh. Avalanches killed four people on the Bishkek-Osh highway in February.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40148&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
IRAN: Controversy over earthquake relief funds
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has given the Iranian Red Crescent Society
(IRCS) $2 million following a demand by the head of IRCS that the Iranian
government account for $10 million of foreign aid sent to help the victims
of December's deadly earthquake in the southeastern city of Bam. Local
newspapers had reported IRCS head, Ahmad-Ali Nourbala, as saying that
there was evidence that foreign organisations had provided more than $11.8
million in aid, but IRCS had only received $1.9 million.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40081&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
KAZAKHSTAN: Landslide kills 28 in south
A landslide struck southern Kazakhstan in the early hours of Sunday
morning, burying some 30 people, the Kazakh emergency ministry reported on
Monday. "The incident happened in the early morning when everyone was
asleep. Twenty-eight bodies have been dug out so far," ministry spokesman
Kairzhan Turezhanov told IRIN from the Talgar district, adding that the
number of the dead could rise.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40052&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
PAKISTAN: IOM launches initiative to combat human trafficking
The launch on Tuesday of a unique thematic group on human trafficking in
Pakistan by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is intended
to bring key stakeholders together so that a plan of action can be
developed to combat the growing menace. "The idea is to bring together key
stakeholders so they can chalk out the policies and mechanisms together to
manage it in this country."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40079&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: UNHCR repatriation programme extended to Quetta
A repatration process run by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, (UNHCR) to enable Afghan refugees in Pakistan to return to their
homeland, has been expanded to include the south-western city of Quetta,
according to an agency official."UNHCR resumed its repatriation operations
in Quetta on Tuesday. About 31 families, comprising 174 individuals, were
sent to Afghanistan on Tuesday after they underwent validation tests at
the Iris Verification Centre (IVC) in Quetta."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40108&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Rights group sets up first ever helpline
A rights group is setting up the first ever helpline for victims of human
rights violations in Pakistan, with a particular focus on North West
Frontier Province (NWFP), according to the group's head. "In Pakistan,
this kind of helpline is being set up for the first time."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40131&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Human rights commission launches annual report
The Human Rights Commission for Pakistan (HRCP) launched its annual report
on the state of human rights in the South Asian nation on Friday. The
misuse of blasphemy laws continued to increase, laws promulgated in 2002,
including the Freedom of Information Act, were not enforced, the freedom
of assembly by citizens in order to call attention to their concerns
remained curtailed and proposed new laws to regulate NGOs were seen by
activists as a potential threat to their autonomy, the report said.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40141&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Health ministry requests help to eradicate measles
The authorities in Tajikistan are appealing to the international community
to assist in eliminating measles in the impoverished Central Asian state.
"We are looking for additional donors, as of today we have a budget
deficit [for the campaign] of some US $1 million."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40104&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: ADB to modernise energy sector in Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to a project with the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) aimed at modernising their regional power
transmission systems - a step to improving the ageing Soviet-built
infrastructure in the region. "This is a significant first step for
regional cooperation and enhancing power trade relations between
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40132&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN-UZBEKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: Religious leader arrested and imprisoned
Rights groups have expressed their concern over a further demise in the
state of religious freedom in Turkmenistan following the arrest and
conviction of the former chief mufti of the reclusive Central Asian state.
"It remains unclear why [Turkmen] President Niyazov removed Nasrullah ibn
Ibadullah from office in January 2003 and why he was sentenced in March
2004."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40133&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: OHCHR to conclude first working mission
In what is being described as a step in the right direction, the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is set to
conclude its first working mission to Turkmenistan, a country long
criticised for its poor human rights record. "It is the first working
mission of the OHCHR to Turkmenistan and it is a needs assessment
mission."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40138&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Poverty fuelling southern sex trade
Regina Kurbanova and Rimma Ravshanova - both 15-year old girls - live in
the Uzbek city of Karshi, the capital of southern Kashkadarya province.
The pair, along with a growing number of Uzbek teenagers, work as
prostitutes. In February, the police detained them and took them to the
sexually transmitted diseases (STD) department of the Kashkadarya
provincial STD and skin diseases centre. According to official statistics,
cases of STDs have increased by 30 percent since Uzbekistan gained
independence in 1991.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40047&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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