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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Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 164
15 - 21 May 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Disarmament drive enters main phase
AFGHANISTAN: Emergency assistance reaches flood victims in Sar-e Pol
IRAN-TURKEY: Special report on Iranian refugees from Iraq
KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with new opposition leader
KYRGYZSTAN: Economic migrants face discrimination
KYRGYZSTAN: OSCE holds workshop on criminal justice system reform
PAKISTAN: Three die of Congo virus in Baluchistan
PAKISTAN: Rights groups hail president's call to ban honour killings
PAKISTAN: Kidnapped Christian evangelist resurfaces
PAKISTAN: Congo virus outbreak under control - WHO official
PAKISTAN: Five new polio cases detected in Sindh this year - health official
TAJIKISTAN: New database to be key refugee tool
TAJIKISTAN: UN hopeful over upcoming elections
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


AFGHANISTAN: Disarmament drive enters main phase

Following several weeks of delay, the UN-backed disarmament demobilisation
and reintegration (DDR) main phase was launched on Monday in the capital,
Kabul. The programme, which aims to decommission tens of thousands of
ex-soldiers, is seen as vital for bringing stability to the country, ahead
of Afghanistan's landmark election in September.

Full copy of this report


AFGHANISTAN: Emergency assistance reaches flood victims in Sar-e Pol

Following heavy flooding in the northern province of Sar-e Pol, food aid
and emergency assistance has been dispatched to badly affected families.
According to UNAMA, residents of some five remote villages in the
Kohistanat district of Sar-e Pol, recently hit by a flash flood, received
emergency supplies provided by UNAMA, UNHCR (United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees) and the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM).

Full copy of this report


IRAN-TURKEY: Special report on Iranian refugees from Iraq

Hamid (not his real name) is one of 1,200 Iranians previously living in
northern Iraq now in the ancient southeastern city, set some 1,700 metres
above sea level with a centuries old citadel. Another 600 Iranians entered
Turkey directly from Iran. Hamid was a member of an opposition party in
neighbouring Iran and said he had to leave in fear of his life. The move
to Turkey in 2002 meant a tough transition. "I paid a smuggler US $1,000
to help me get across the border into Turkey with my wife and two
children."

Full copy of this report


KAZAKHSTAN: Interview with new opposition leader

Earlier this month a new opposition party, "Democratic Choice of
Kazakhstan" (DCK), that grew out of Kazakhstan's leading opposition
movement, received official recognition. Now the DCK is legal, it could
offer a serious challenge to President Nursultan Nazarbayev - who has
ruled unopposed since independence in 1991 - in a landmark national
election sceduled for later this year. IRIN spoke to DCK party leader,
Asylbek Kozhakhmetov. He said his party's registration was a big step
forward for democracy.

Full copy of this report


KYRGYZSTAN: Economic migrants face discrimination

The issue of internal migration is especially pertinent for Bishkek.
According to official statistics, there are about 150,000 internal
migrants currently living in Bishkek. Aigul eje came to the Kyrgyz
capital, Bishkek, three years ago. She sells cigarettes and chewing gums
on the streets and lives in a small makeshift house with her four children
and husband. The family are not refugees or internally displaced, but,
like hundreds of thousands of others across Central Asia, they migrated to
the city in search of a better life.

Full copy of this report


KYRGYZSTAN: OSCE holds workshop on criminal justice system reform

A workshop on reform of the Kyrgyz criminal justice system was organised
by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on
Friday to present its findings and recommendations to the Kyrgyz
authorities. "The focus of the event was on how to develop better human
rights safeguards for Kyrgyz citizens and strengthen the rule of law in
the country through the reform of the Criminal Code and the Criminal
Procedure Code laws."

Full copy of this report


PAKISTAN: Three die of Congo virus in Baluchistan

Three people have died recently while four others have been hospitalised
with the Congo virus in the south-western province of Baluchistan in the
latest outbreak of the illness that has plagued the largest - and poorest
- of Pakistan's provinces since 2001, claiming over 200 victims, according
to a government official. "There were a total of seven cases. Three died
and four are okay now."

Full copy of this report


PAKISTAN: Rights groups hail president's call to ban honour killings

Rights groups have reacted positively to Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf's statement on Saturday in which he called for a law banning
honour killings, but urge more action, as opposed to mere rhetoric, to
back Musharraf's assertion that the Hudood Ordinances and the blasphemy
law need to be scrutinised to prevent any further misuse. In his address
to a human rights convention in the capital, Islamabad, Musharraf also
announced the formation of an independent National Commission for Human
Rights.

Full copy of this report


PAKISTAN: Kidnapped Christian evangelist resurfaces

A Christian evangelist who was kidnapped two days ago in mysterious
circumstances from the south-western city of Quetta, suddenly reappeared
on Tuesday in the capital, Islamabad, in conditions that were just as
mystifying. He was now in protective custody in a safe haven, according to
a minority lawmaker in the national assembly. Pastor Wilson Fazal of the
Pakistan Gospel Assembly in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province,
was feared kidnapped when he disappeared on Sunday.

Full copy of this report


PAKISTAN: Congo virus outbreak under control - WHO official

An outbreak of the deadly Congo virus reported from outlying rural areas
in the south-western province of Baluchistan, which has already caused
three deaths and forced four others to remain under treatment in
quarantined locations, is now under control. "It is now under control, no
new cases have emerged and, most importantly, in the context of this focal
outbreak, no other case from that particular family has come up yet.
That's good news."

Full copy of this report


PAKISTAN: Five new polio cases detected in Sindh this year - health
official

Five new cases of polio have been detected in the southern Pakistani
province of Sindh this year, but health authorities are confident that a
fresh round of a country-wide campaign to eradicate the illness, due to
start in June, would help the province to become a polio-free zone by
December. While all the other cases were under control, the two cases at
Ghotki in rural Sindh were worrisome because the patients had already
received eight to 10 doses of the anti-polio vaccine.

Full copy of this report


TAJIKISTAN: New database to be key refugee tool

A newly established computer database, one of the first in the region and
managed by the Tajik State Migration Service, will prove instrumental in
assisting thousands of refugees in mountainous Tajikistan, the vast
majority of whom are Afghans. "The database is not an end in itself, but
rather one stage in an ongoing process of finding more durable solutions
for the refugees and persons of concern living in this country."

Full copy of this report


TAJIKISTAN: UN hopeful over upcoming elections

The United Nations is hopeful next year's parliamentary elections in
Tajikistan will be an improvement over the last national poll, in 2000,
when the influence of former field commanders from the bloody civil war
was more apparent. "I hope that the next elections will be more
democratic, more transparent, more credible and fairer," Vladimir Sotirov,
head of the UN Tajikistan Office of Peace-building (UNTOP).

Full copy of this report


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

A new torture death of a man in police custody in Uzbekistan on Tuesday
was the fifth such death documented since May 2003, when Washington last
certified that the country had been making sufficient progress in human
rights to qualify for US assistance, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. In the
coming weeks, the US State Department is due to again evaluate the Uzbek
government's eligibility.

Full copy of this report


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