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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 51
17 - 23 December 2005


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Journalist jailed for blasphemy, freed
AFGHANISTAN: ADB approves US $55 million for post-conflict country
AFGHANISTAN: Government approves new counter-narcotics law
AFGHANISTAN: MPs elect president for the lower house
AFGHANISTAN: MPs elect upper house president
AFGHANISTAN: Parliament convenes after three decades
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN: Boosting health services during emergencies
KYRGYZSTAN: New project raising youth awareness of elections
NEPAL: UN welcomes Maoist statement on aid and development
PAKISTAN: Frustration at quake camps
PAKISTAN: Rape allegation highlights vulnerability of quake survivors
PAKISTAN: Environmental concerns in quake-hit region
PAKISTAN: Cuban field hospital works to make a difference
PAKISTAN: Widows in quake area battle to survive
PAKISTAN: New immunisation campaign kicks off
PAKISTAN: Earthquake victims and drug dependency
PAKISTAN: Shelter the priority as quake zone temperatures plummet
PAKISTAN: UN Foundation establishes earthquake response fund
PAKISTAN: Focus on UNHCR efforts to keep quake survivors warm
PAKISTAN: Many mountain quake villages still without health care
UZBEKISTAN: Berlin to examine prosecution request


AFGHANISTAN: Journalist jailed for blasphemy, freed

An Afghan journalist jailed for publishing anti-Islamic articles has
been freed following an appeal, a senior judge said on Thursday in the
capital, Kabul. Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of the monthly magazine
Haqooq-e-Zan (Women's Rights), was arrested in October and sentenced to
two years in jail after complaints about his articles, in particular one
which questioned Islamic punishments for crimes such as adultery.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50829&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: ADB approves US $55 million for post-conflict country

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved the first part of
a projected US $105 million programme to reform Afghanistan's fiscal
management and public administration systems, with an assistance package
totalling $55 million. A loan of $48 million and grant of $7 million
comprise the first of two three-year programmes to develop new systems
and procedures to improve budget programming, strengthen resource
mobilisation, improve the civil service and enhance monitoring of public
finance, the bank said in a statement.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50831&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Government approves new counter-narcotics law

The Afghan government has approved a new counter-narcotics law to fight
illicit drug trafficking in the world's biggest opium producer. The law
recommends the establishment of a Drug Regulation Commission (DRC), and
lays out significant penalties for corruption and bribery associated
with drug trafficking.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50792&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: MPs elect president for the lower house

Members of the Afghan parliament on Wednesday elected opposition leader
Yunus Qanooni as the president of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of the
parliament) in the post-conflict country. Afghanistan's first parliament
was inaugurated on Monday, after three decades of conflict and MPs a day
later elected ex-president Sebghatullah Mujadidi as the head of the
102-seat upper house of parliament, known as the Meshrano Jirga.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50811&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: MPs elect upper house president

Following the inaugural meeting of Afghanistan's first parliament after
three decades of conflict, on Monday, members of parliament a day later
elected an ex-president as head of the upper house of parliament, known
as the Meshrano Jirga. Afghanistan has had no elected parliament since
1973. A succession of coups and a Soviet invasion plunged the country
into anarchy, leaving more than 1 million people dead. Civil war raged
in the early 1990s, followed by the hardline rule of the Taliban until
December 2001.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50794&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Parliament convenes after three decades

Members of Afghanistan's first parliament after more than three decades
of conflict were sworn in on Monday, marking a major milestone towards
the fledgling state's future peace and stability. Afghanistan has had no
elected parliament since 1973, when a succession of coups and a Soviet
invasion plunged the country into anarchy, leaving more than 1 million
people dead. Civil war raged in the early 1990s, followed by the hard
line rule of the Taliban until December 2001.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50768&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

Courts in Uzbekistan on Thursday gave heavy jail sentences to another 41
people found guilty in two new closed trials for taking part in an
uprising in May in the town of Andijan, Reuters reported the Supreme
Court as saying. Uzbek courts started holding closed hearings after
stinging criticism by human rights bodies of the first trial of 15 Uzbek
men jailed last month over the 13 May rebellion, in which up to 1,000
civilians may have died when troops shot into crowds of protesters.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50835&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


KYRGYZSTAN: Boosting health services during emergencies

Three new ambulances and a few hundred boxes of medicines worth US
$48,000 was handed to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health (MoH) during a
ceremony at United Nations house in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on
Tuesday. The medical assistance was part of a United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) programme to boost emergency preparedness in the country.
"This is a very important project by UNFPA, these medicines will go
primarily to help women," said UN Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan and
UNFPA representative, Jerzy Skuratowicz.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50791&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: New project raising youth awareness of elections

The UN has recently launched a new project in Kyrgyzstan in an attempt
to tackle acute voter apathy among the country's youth, in particular
within the rural population. The project is being run by the United
Nations Volunteers (UNV), the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) and
began in late November ahead of Sunday's local elections. Voter turnout
at the elections to the Ayil Okmotus, or rural self-governing
administrations, was 52.4 percent, the Central Election Committee said,
but it not yet known what percentage of that were young people, who make
up 40 percent of the country's population.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50769&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


NEPAL: UN welcomes Maoist statement on aid and development

The United Nations office in Nepal has welcomed a statement made by
Maoist rebels on Thursday that they would cooperate with the UN and
bilateral donor agencies and adhere to the their Basic Operating
Guidelines (BOGs) for aid and development work. The Maoists have been
waging an armed rebellion against the government for the past nine years
but declared a ceasefire in September and recently formed an alliance
with political parties to remove the monarchy.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50832&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Frustration at quake camps

Patience seems to have run out among some earthquake survivors in
Balakot, at the lip of the Kaghan Valley in Pakistan's mountainous North
West Frontier Province (NWFP). Many of those living in the tents dotted
across the devastated landscape of the town are angry, and make no
attempt to hide it. "Just look at the situation here. People are dying
of the cold, the living conditions are filthy and no one is helping us,"
said Aziz Hussain, his shrill tones swiftly drawing a small crowd that
gathers around him.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50830&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Rape allegation highlights vulnerability of quake survivors

The report of the alleged rape of a teenage quake victim, her denial of
the incident and account of how she was coerced into signing a statement
accusing a doctor of assault has exposed the vulnerability of many of
Pakistan's quake victims to abuse. While the full facts in the case of
Ajeeba Jabeen, 18, have yet to surface, rights activists say the
teenager was clearly taken advantage of by those around her, exploiting
the girl's sense of isolation, hundreds of kilometres from her destroyed
home near Muzzafarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50790&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Environmental concerns in quake-hit region

Environmental activists have expressed grave concern over widespread
pollution as a result of poor sanitation, inadequate solid waste
management practices, degradation of forests and continuous landslides
across parts of quake-devastated northern Pakistan. "The disposal of
solid waste management should be accorded the highest priority since
it's not only giving way to serious health risks, but also polluting the
environment in several other ways," says an alert bulletin jointly
released by the World Conservation Union, otherwise known as the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN), the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the US-based
international developmental agency CARE on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50809&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Cuban field hospital works to make a difference

Two hours along a steep road high in the mountains, is a field hospital
in the middle of the village of Danna, some 40 km from Muzaffarabad,
capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and close to the epicentre of
the 8 October regional earthquake. The facility is like many others set
up after the quake, except for the fact that it is staffed by Cuban
doctors and nurses who have travelled from the Caribbean to attend the
high number of patients, mainly women, queuing up outside the tented
clinic.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50805&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Widows in quake area battle to survive

Since Mariyam Nessa's husband died of an asthma attack while ploughing
his fields five years ago, her neighbours in the hamlet of Duliard have
always helped out. But after the earthquake, which killed over 86,000
people and devastated the remote Machiara Valley, where Duliard lies,
her neighbours have no time to help Mariyam as they must battle for
their own survival.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50803&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: New immunisation campaign kicks off

Health authorities in northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered
Kashmir, supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), on
Monday launched the third phase of an immunisation campaign to prevent
the outbreak of communicable diseases in camps set up after the 8
October earthquake, officials said. "We are starting our third phase of
the vaccination campaign today and it will cover all the camps in all
earthquake-affected areas," Dr Mirza Imran Raza, a UNICEF consultant
responsible for the emergency vaccination campaign in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50767&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Earthquake victims and drug dependency

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), together with the
Pakistani Ministry of Health (MoH), has launched a series of awareness
raising workshops as part of its efforts to prevent drug dependency and
addiction among victims of the 8 October earthquake. "UNODC has observed
in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world that victims of natural and
manmade disasters are at high risk of developing drug dependence and
addiction - maybe as a result of prescribed medications to the injured
for the relief of extreme pain or otherwise due to discomfort and
boredom amongst displaced populations after a disaster," Vincent
McClean, Country Representative for UNODC, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50770&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Shelter the priority as quake zone temperatures plummet

Amid forecasts of more very cold weather in quake-stricken parts of
northern Pakistan, humanitarian agencies are still struggling to provide
over 3 million survivors of the 8 October earthquake with adequate
shelter, food and health services to get them through the harsh
Himalayan winter.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50788&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: UN Foundation establishes earthquake response fund

The United Nations Foundation has established the South Asia Earthquake
Response Fund to enable private-sector donors to support the world
body's relief and rehabilitation efforts, with an initial contribution
of US $1 million by the foundation itself. "The victims of this disaster
have turned to the UN and the international community in their time of
need, and we can't let them down," Ted Turner, founder and chairman of
the foundation said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, concluding a
four-day visit of Pakistan's earthquake-affected areas on Tuesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50800&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Focus on UNHCR efforts to keep quake survivors warm

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
has stepped up its winterisation campaign in emergency relief camps in
northern Pakistan with a new round of blanket distribution and is
exploring ways to keep quake survivors warm while minimising the risk of
tent fires.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50841&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Many mountain quake villages still without health care

The crowd appears impatient as a small Pakistani military helicopter
hovers over tiny Chattian village, some 1,600 m above sea level, loaded
with relief items. But as the helicopter lands and goods are unloaded, a
family with a sick child rushes to clamber on board to get their loved
one airlifted to hospital in Muzaffarabad, capital of
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, as quickly as possible. Such actions are
understandable when local residents in the village, about 40 km
northeast of Muzaffarabad, note how long it takes them to get to the
nearest health facility.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50842&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Berlin to examine prosecution request

The German government has yet to determine its next course of action
following a recent call by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Torture to prosecute a senior Uzbek official for his alleged involvement
in last May's Andijan massacre. "We are checking this case for possible
investigation, but the individual is no longer in Germany,"
Frauke-Katrin Scheuten, a spokeswoman for the German
Prosecutor-General's office said from the southern city of Karlsruhe on
Tuesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50789&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


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