Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-35: 02-Sep-05
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 35
27 August - 2 September 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Electoral observation effort gearing up
AFGHANISTAN: Focus on security prior to election
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KAZAKHSTAN: Civil society welcomes ruling on NGO laws
KYRGYZSTAN-TAJIKISTAN: New clinic eases border tension
NEPAL: Focus on rural development in Maoist areas
NEPAL: King, politicians and rebels no nearer to talks
PAKISTAN: Refugee camps along tribal belt closing
PAKISTAN: Afghans in capital concerned at eviction
PAKISTAN: No provision for Afghan refugees to vote
TURKMENISTAN: Ashgabat intimidating those linked with exiled activists
say rights NGOs
UZBEKISTAN: Radio Liberty condemns jailing of reporter
UZBEKISTAN: Trial of Andijan accused to start in September
UZBEKISTAN: Amnesty calls for moratorium on death sentence
AFGHANISTAN: Electoral observation effort gearing up
With a little over two weeks to historic parliamentary elections in
Afghanistan, tens of thousands of observers are set to monitor the
internationally-supported poll, the joint UN-Afghan electoral body
announced this week. According to Joint Electoral Management Body
(JEMB), 2,200 independent observers and more than 30,000 political party
and candidate agents have been accredited to scrutinise the Wolesi Jirga
(lower house) and provincial council elections.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48877&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Focus on security prior to election
With less than three weeks to go before parliamentary elections in
Afghanistan and with campaigning in full swing, security continues to be
a major concern for voters, candidates and for national and
international electoral bodies involved. Over recent months, extremist
groups have stepped up violence as polling day draws nearer. While it
appears the attacks have targeted pro-government and international
forces rather than election candidates or election workers, analysts
believe attempts to cause major disruption to the elections can still
not be ruled out.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48799&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
This week in Central Asia - more than three months after Uzbek security
forces violently suppressed protests in the eastern Uzbek city of
Andijan - the US re-iterated its calls for an independent international
probe into what happened. "We've been very clear that the Uzbek
government needs to let in an international team, needs to be fully
transparent in investigating and allowing an international investigation
of what happened at Andijan," US State Department spokesman Sean
McCormack said on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48881&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
KAZAKHSTAN: Civil society welcomes ruling on NGO laws
Activists have welcomed a recent ruling by the Kazakh Constitutional
Council that a set of draft laws regulating the activities of NGOs is
unconstitutional. Even so, they still remain concerned by other laws
that could impede the development of civil society in Central Asia's
largest state. "The fact that the Constitutional Council acted correctly
in this decision is a positive sign," explained Antonio Stango, the
country director of Freedom House, a leading advocate of the world's
young democracies, speaking on Wednesday from the Kazakh commercial
capital, Almaty.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48850&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN-TAJIKISTAN: New clinic eases border tension
A new UN-supported project on the Tajik-Kyrgyz frontier aims to reduce
tension between communities, while providing much needed healthcare to
populations on both sides of the border. Funded by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and located in Tojikon village in the Tajik
Vorukh enclave, over 450 km north of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, but
surrounded by Kyrgyz territory, the facility provides health care to
around 5,000 residents in the area, Bakhrom Fayzullayev, UNDP's national
coordinator for the project, said on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48839&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN-TAJIKISTAN
NEPAL: Focus on rural development in Maoist areas
It's a daunting task for development worker Narab Bhupal Rai. Not only
does he have to walk for days to reach the remote villages where he
works, he also has to run the gauntlet of Maoist rebel leaders who
regularly interrogate him about his work and political affiliation.
Despite the difficulties, Rai continues to carry out his duties. "What
choice do we have? The Maoists control 80 percent of the district and
say they have the authority to know all about our activities," explained
Rai.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48810&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
NEPAL: King, politicians and rebels no nearer to talks
When Nepal's King Gyanendra recently paid his first visit to east and
west Nepal since assuming direct rule of the nation on 1 February this
year, peace was the only thing that most people wanted to talk to him
about. This week after his return to the capital, the king announced
through state media that he was ready for dialogue with the nation's
political parties.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48840&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
PAKISTAN: Refugee camps along tribal belt closing
Pakistani authorities on Wednesday announced the closure of 32 Afghan
refugee camps in the western tribal belt. The camps were originally
established for Afghans fleeing the Soviet invasion over 25 years ago.
"Basic services like health would continue on a limited basis for those
preparing for repatriation and making other logistical arrangements,"
said Imran Zeb, head of the Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees
(CCAR), the state body dealing with Afghan refugees, speaking from the
capital, Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48873&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Afghans in capital concerned at eviction
Tens of thousands of Afghans living in and around the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad, not being residents of registered refugee accommodation, are
uncertain about their future, as the government deadline for them to
either return to Afghanistan or move out of their homes draws nearer.
The Pakistani authorities announced earlier this month that they want
the Afghans to relocate by 15 September.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48826&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: No provision for Afghan refugees to vote
Saeed Agha is a middle-aged Afghan mechanic living in the Pakistani
capital, Islamabad, who listens avidly to radio news broadcasts about
the forthcoming parliamentary elections in his homeland. The programmes
are transmitted in Dari, Pashto and Urdu to the millions of Afghans
residing in neighbouring Pakistan but it's unlikely Agha or many of the
others will get a chance to participate in the historic poll.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48855&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: Ashgabat intimidating those linked with exiled activists
say rights NGOs
Rights activists living outside Turkmenistan say the Turkmen government
has been intimidating their relatives and friends in Turkmenistan
because of their own efforts from abroad to highlight the desert
nation's poor human rights record. "There has been systematic pressure
on us since we established the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation [THF] in
2003," Tajigul Begmedova, head of THF, said on Thursday from the
Bulgarian resort city of Varna where the rights group is based.
According to Begmedova, the Turkmen authorities have been harassing her
relatives, who still live in her homeland, since THF was first
established.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48874&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Radio Liberty condemns jailing of reporter
The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), on Tuesday
condemned a six month jail sentence imposed on its Uzbekistan reporter
for allegedly insulting a security service official. The sentence is
being seen as part of increasing government pressure on both journalists
and human rights groups in this Central Asian nation. Washington and
Prague-based RFE/RL promotes democratic values by disseminating factual
information and ideas.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48827&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Trial of Andijan accused to start in September
The trials of people involved in the 13 May unrest in the eastern city
of Andijan later this month, in which up to 1,000 people were killed
according to rights groups, are set to begin later this month. Tashkent
puts the number of dead at 187, blaming Islamic militants for the
violence. President Islam Karimov, speaking on Wednesday on the eve of
the Central Asian nation's independence day, told local reporters that
the trial would enable the truth of what happened in Andijan to come
out.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48876&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Amnesty calls for moratorium on death sentence
Amnesty International (AI) has called for a moratorium on all death
penalty cases in Uzbekistan, following a presidential decree that the
nation should abolish capital punishment in January 2008. "Exactly a
month ago, President Karimov decreed that the death penalty would be
abolished in Uzbekistan from 1 January 2008. We welcome this
announcement but if the authorities have already come to the conclusion
that the death penalty is wrong and inhumane, then it is hard to
understand why they are still prepared to execute scores of people
before 2008," said Anna Sunder-Plassmann, Central Asia researcher for
AI, speaking in London on Thursday.
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