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 175
31 July - 6 August 2004


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Voter registration sites to close by mid August
AFGHANISTAN: New centres for election training set to make a difference
AFGHANISTAN: Government reacts to MSF pullout
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: Government cracking down on Internet freedom, RSF says
KYRGYZSTAN: New passport to help combat human trafficking
PAKISTAN: Focus on exploitation of domestic workers
PAKISTAN: Water crisis following poor monsoon rains
PAKISTAN: Enhanced assistance programme for Afghan refugees
TAJIKISTAN: International concern over attack on journalist
TAJIKISTAN: World Bank installs early warning system at Lake Sarez
TAJIKISTAN: Water quality in capital remains a source of concern
UZBEKISTAN: Amnesty calls to commute death penalty sentences
UZBEKISTAN: OSCE centre concludes specialist training against human
   trafficking


AFGHANISTAN: Voter registration sites to close by mid August

Afghanistan's voter registration programme is set to finish throughout the
country on 15 August, after successfully registering 90 percent of all
eligible voters. "We have decided to close all voter registration sites
throughout Afghanistan by mid August," Said Azam, a spokesman for the
Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), told IRIN in the capital Kabul on
Tuesday, the day after the formal announcement was made.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42495&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: New centres for election training set to make a difference

Newly established election training centres, operated by the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and aimed at training
people in how to vote during October's elections, look set to make a
difference. "This is very significant. We need to provide as much as
possible training and awareness for the people," Grant Kippen, country
director for the Washington-based NGO, told IRIN in Kabul, noting that
this was the first time that free and fair elections were being held in
the country, making it new for everyone.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42531&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Government reacts to MSF pullout

The Afghan government has reaffirmed its commitment to address the
security concerns of aid workers on the ground following the pull out of
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), an international NGO with over two decades
experience in the country. "It is our duty to secure the security and
stability situation for the people of Afghanistan, as well as the
international community who are working to help the Afghan people,"
Lutfullah Mashal, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry told IRIN
in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42473&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

The trial of alleged al-Qaeda-linked militants accused of being behind a
wave of violence in Uzbekistan in March and April was adjourned on Monday,
during the first court proceedings after alleged Islamic militants
reportedly attacked the US and Israeli embassies and the Uzbek chief
prosecutor's office on 30 July, the AP reported. Judge Bakhtiyor Jamalov
said the trial which started in late July was being held over due to a
defence attorney's illness.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42552&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


IRAN: Government cracking down on Internet freedom, RSF says

The media watchdog body Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has voiced concern
at the growing efforts of the Iranian authorities to censor online freedom
of expression, including the preparation of a draft law that would create
a legal framework to crack down on Internet usage. RSF has also called for
the release of Mojtaba Lotfi, a cyber-dissident theology student.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42527&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


KYRGYZSTAN: New passport to help combat human trafficking

A new national passport has been introduced in Kyrgyzstan in a move to
fight human trafficking and organised crime. The new travel document
offers greater protection against forgery and is compatible with
international standards, according to a migration official. "The new
passport has sufficient levels of protection [against forgery]. It is not
filled in by hand, as was the case before. It also has a digital photo,
making it impossible to stick in someone else's photo," Bermet Moldobaeva,
a programme coordinator for the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) in Kyrgyzstan, told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42509&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


PAKISTAN: Focus on exploitation of domestic workers

Sumaira works from six each morning till past midnight. Her work includes
peeling vegetables, washing dishes, washing clothes, scrubbing floors,
babysitting, washing nappies and dusting the seven bedroom home in a
well-off residential area in the western Pakistan city of Lahore. For her
work, which begins when she serves tea at dawn to the oldest member of the
nine-member household, known to her as "Baji" (older sister), Sumaira
receives no pay.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42506&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Water crisis following poor monsoon rains

Pakistan's supply of irrigation water has dropped significantly after the
country received almost 50 percent less rain than normal during the
current monsoon season, according to an official of the country's
meteorological department. "July's rainfall was far less than normal. On
the other hand, colder temperatures [below normal] in catchment areas in
June and July have adversely affected the glacier-melting, contributing to
lesser snow melt to our dams and reservoirs," Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry,
the head of Pakistan's meteorological department, told IRIN in the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42497&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Enhanced assistance programme for Afghan refugees

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is offering an
enhanced assistance package to refugees choosing to return to Afghanistan
from the 'new' camps of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and
Balochistan, set to be closed by the end of August. "The new special
package, introduced in June this year, is in addition to the standard
UNHCR repatriation package received by more than 200,000 returning Afghans
earlier this year," Asif Shahzad, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency's
mission, told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42514&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: International concern over attack on journalist

The international press freedom watchdog group Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
have expressed concern over a violent assault on Rajab Mirzo,
editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Ruzi Nav. "This can be [seen
as] an indication of the deterioration in the status of press freedom in
Tajikistan," Colombe de Mercy, RSF assistant for the Europe desk, told
IRIN on Tuesday from Paris, fearing that the incident was linked to his
journalistic activity.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42496&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: World Bank installs early warning system at Lake Sarez

Special equipment for monitoring the situation around Lake Sarez in
eastern Tajikistan is now being installed by a World Bank project working
on risk mitigation in the area, a step to ensure early warning for the
vulnerable population in the region. "This equipment is for monitoring the
situation around Lake Sarez, the dam and the Bartang valley, including
seismic activity, landslides, water, wind speed and so on," Rustam
Bobojonov, a coordinator for the World Bank's Lake Sarez risk mitigation
project, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Thursday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42528&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: Water quality in capital remains a source of concern

Some residents of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, remain reluctant to use tap
water, complaining that it is over chlorinated, while the authorities
justify their efforts, saying it avoids the risk of possible water-borne
diseases. One resident complained to IRIN that the city's running water
was heavily chlorinated. "The water smells strongly of chlorine as if
bleaching powder is running from a tap."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42498&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Amnesty calls to commute death penalty sentences

The international rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI), has called
upon Tashkent to commute the capital sentences of two prisoners allegedly
tortured to confess to murder. "We are calling on the Uzbek authorities to
commute the sentences of Ikram Mukhtarov and Yusuf Zhumayev and all other
death penalty sentences," Anna Sunder-Plassmann, AI researcher for Central
Asia, told IRIN from London on Monday, fearing both prisoners were
allegedly tortured into making their confessions.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42479&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: OSCE centre concludes specialist training against human
trafficking

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Friday
concluded the first of a series of specialist training schemes for Uzbek
law enforcement agencies investigating human trafficking. "The training
scheme is a part of the OSCE Centre's Anti-Trafficking Programme, which
has been developed in line with the OSCE Action Plan to combat trafficking
in human beings," Per Normark, acting head of the OSCE Centre in the Uzbek
capital Tashkent, told IRIN.


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