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Integrated Regional Information Network

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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 57
28 January - 3 February 2006


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Government to have greater control over aid pledged in
   London
AFGHANISTAN: US soldier found guilty of prisoner abuse
AFGHANISTAN: Snowstorms kill 18 in the north
AFGHANISTAN: Rights body condemns recent attacks on teachers and
   schools
AFGHANISTAN: Donor conference boost morale - but huge challenges remain
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
CENTRAL ASIA-TURKEY: IOM launches new anti-trafficking campaign
IRAN: Mass arrest of bus drivers
KYRGYZSTAN: New project to attract doctors to rural areas
KYRGYZSTAN: Avalanche kills four in south
KYRGYZSTAN: NGOs accuse government of smear campaign
NEPAL: Second election candidate attacked by rebels
NEPAL: One year of direct rule, no end to conflict
NEPAL: Testimony by a victim of torture at the hands of the army
NEPAL: Testimony by a victim of Maoist torture
NEPAL: Interview with the Royal Nepalese Army's former spokesman,
   Brigadier-General Deepak Gurung
NEPAL: Interview with the editor of the Nepali Times, Kunda Dixit
NEPAL: Interview with human rights activist, Subodh Pyakhurel
NEPAL: Interview with United Nations Resident Representative in Nepal,
   Matthew Kahane
NEPAL: Confronting human rights violations
NEPAL: Food insecurity and market access in contested districts
NEPAL: Decades of damage to education
NEPAL: The conflict's dangerous impact on health services
PAKISTAN: Gulf support for quake relief remains high
PAKISTAN: Free transport scheme popular among quake survivors
PAKISTAN: Single-headed quake households face uncertain future
PAKISTAN: Focus on the conflict in Balochistan
TAJIKISTAN: 18 people killed by avalanche
TAJIKISTAN: NGO calls for health reform in prisons
TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion
   and Belief seeks visit
UZBEKISTAN: Access to trial of Andijan activist draws criticism


AFGHANISTAN: Government to have greater control over aid pledged in
London

The Afghan government looks set to have more control over aid worth US
$10.5 billion pledged at the London donor conference for the
rehabilitation of the war-ravaged country, officials said on Thursday.
Hosted by the UN, as well as the Afghan and UK governments, the
three-day conference that began on Tuesday, refocused international
commitment to assisting Afghanistan and acknowledged the huge
development challenges that still lie ahead.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51510&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: US soldier found guilty of prisoner abuse

A court martial has found a US serviceman in Afghanistan guilty of
mistreating detainees and sentenced him to four months detention, the US
military said on Saturday. "Sentencing was announced yesterday in Bagram
airfield in the court martial of a US soldier accused of punching
detainees in the chest, arms and shoulders at a forward operating base
in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan, in July," the US military said in a
press release.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51436&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Snowstorms kill 18 in the north

Severe winter weather in Afghanistan has killed at least 18 people in
the northeastern province of Badakhshan, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
"Heavy snowstorms have hit five villages in the Kuhistan-e-Ragh district
of Badakhshan, killing 15 people," Abdul Majid, governor of Badakhshan,
said, adding affected people were in dire need of relief assistance. At
least three more people are reported dead in the Ragh district of
Badakhshan due to the bad weather.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51467&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Rights body condemns recent attacks on teachers and schools

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Monday
condemned recent attacks on educational institutions and called on the
government to ensure the safety of teachers, pupils and school premises.
Militants, battling US and government forces have recently launched
numerous attacks on schools and teachers. Suspected Taliban guerillas
set fire to three primary schools in Nawa district of the southern
Helmand province last Saturday. No one was hurt in any of the fires,
according to officials.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51462&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Donor conference boost morale - but huge challenges remain

Afghans welcomed further pledges of support from international donors at
a key conference in London this week, but called on further government
reforms to fight widespread corruption, opium trade and poverty in the
post-conflict state. Hosted by the UN, as well as the Afghan and UK
governments, the three-day conference that began on Tuesday, also marks
the launch of the Afghanistan Compact - a framework for engaging the
international community in the country over the next five years.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51490&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

A Kazakh opposition youth leader in police custody on embezzlement
charges claimed that he was beaten and abused by investigators, rights
groups reported on Thursday. Makhambet Abzhan, leader of the Union of
Patriotic Youth of Kazakhstan (UPYK), complained in a letter to
prosecutors that he had also been threatened with torture and subjected
to verbal abuse, the Kazakh-based International Bureau for Human Rights
(IBHR) said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51523&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


CENTRAL ASIA-TURKEY: IOM launches new anti-trafficking campaign

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday launched a
new public information campaign in Turkey aimed at raising awareness of
the impact of human trafficking on children and families. One out of
three women trafficked to Turkey - one of the major destination points
for trafficking women from Central Asia for sexual exploitation - are
mothers with children, according to the IOM.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51485&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA-TURKEY


IRAN: Mass arrest of bus drivers

Hundreds of bus drivers in Iran have been arrested without charge or
access to counsel, the international rights NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW)
has said. In a pre-emptive move by the government aimed at thwarting
plans for a strike by the drivers, several union organisers were also
detained. The exact number of detainees is not known, although some
union officials are reported to have said the figure is between 500 and
700 drivers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51500&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


KYRGYZSTAN: New project to attract doctors to rural areas

Kyrgyz authorities are set to launch a new project aimed at encouraging
young doctors to work in rural areas, officials said on Wednesday.
"There is currently a lack of doctors in remote areas of the republic.
This innovation will help attract young practitioners to rural areas,"
Shailoobek Niyazov, Kyrgyz health minister, said in the capital,
Bishkek.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51489&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Avalanche kills four in south

An avalanche killed four people in southern Kyrgyzstan on Saturday,
while heavy snow is disrupting life in the area and causing extensive
damage, the emergency ministry said on Monday. "There was no warning of
the disaster and actually we did not expect an avalanche in that area,"
Nurlanbek Pazylov from the provincial emergency department in the
southern city of Osh, said. The avalanche ripped through the village of
Sary-Bee in the mountainous Kara-Kulja district of the southern Kyrgyz
province of Osh, burying four members of the Monolbaev family.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51437&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: NGOs accuse government of smear campaign

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Kyrgyzstan, particularly those
funded from abroad, report increasing pressure on their activities under
the government of newly installed President Kurmanbek Bakiev, most
notably through some state media which, they say, portray them as agents
of the West. There are reportedly some 7,000 NGOs registered in the
mountainous Central Asian state, but only some 300 are currently active,
mostly foreign-funded.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51516&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


NEPAL: Second election candidate attacked by rebels

As the royal government prepares for municipal polls scheduled for 8
February, Maoist rebels are intensifying their campaign against the
election, which has been boycotted by the Himalayan kingdom's main
political parties. On Monday the rebels shot Dal Bahadur Rai, a member
of the pro-royalist Janmukti Party and mayoral candidate for Lalitpur, a
suburb of the capital, Kathmandu. A local human rights group, Insec,
reported that he had been hospitalised with serious gunshot wounds.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51438&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: One year of direct rule, no end to conflict

A group of local human rights activists in Nepal warned during a large
gathering in the capital, Kathmandu, on Wednesday that the situation in
the Himalayan kingdom could further deteriorate in the absence of a
democratic government. "The human rights community [of Nepal] is deeply
concerned that the country will be pushed towards a more violent war and
we can expect more insecurity for civilians," said rights activist Gopal
Siwakoti.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51493&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Testimony by a victim of torture at the hands of the army

Shivering with fear and pain, wounds all over his face and body, it is
hard for Anoj (not his real name) to recall the torture he was subjected
to at the hands of Nepal's security forces inside the army's main
barracks in the capital, Kathmandu. Looking feeble and ill, he may not
live long if he fails to get proper medical treatment. The period since
1 February 2005 when King Gyanendra assumed direct rule of the Himalayan
kingdom has been characterised by the widespread arrests of political
activists, human rights defenders, trade unionists and journalists - the
government's apparent aim to prevent protest against the takeover.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50565&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Testimony by a victim of Maoist torture

The Maoist rebels, like the army and police, have been accused of human
rights abuses by human rights groups and those civilians who have
suffered at their hands. 'Maniram' (not his real name) told IRIN he was
working as a village teacher until April 2005, when a group of Maoist
militants abducted him from his house and detained him for nearly a
month. They said his brother, a member of the Maoists, had deserted
them, and held Maniram responsible for persuading him to leave. Maniram
spoke to IRIN about the mental and physical torture he experienced
during his detention.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50564&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Interview with the Royal Nepalese Army's former spokesman,
Brigadier-General Deepak Gurung

It was only in 2001 that the Royal Nepalese Army was finally brought out
of its barracks to quell the violent Maoist rebellion that started in
1996. But since its deployment, officially to provide security and
protect civilians as well as to confront the rebels, it has been
constantly criticised for violating human rights. Many local and
international agencies, including the United Nations, have published
reports of Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) involvement in illegal detention,
extrajudicial killing, disappearance, torture and other human rights
abuses.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50563&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Interview with the editor of the Nepali Times, Kunda Dixit

The accord signed in New Delhi in late November between Nepal's
opposition parties and Maoist insurgents, sets out an agenda to end
absolute rule by King Gyanendra. Maoists have pledged to forego violence
and accept a constitutional monarchy, if progress towards a new
constituent assembly can be made. Nepali Times Editor Kunda Dixit spoke
to IRIN about the circumstances surrounding the accord.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50562&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Interview with human rights activist, Subodh Pyakhurel

The human rights situation in Nepal has been a matter of serious concern
for most of the last nine years of conflict between Maoists rebels and
the state. Rights groups have been particularly vocal since the
breakdown of peace talks and the deployment of the Royal Nepalese Army
(RNA) in November 2001. Nearly 12,000 people are estimated to have been
killed in the conflict since 1996. Rights groups say a large number of
the victims were civilians suspected of supporting or working with the
rebels.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50559&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Interview with United Nations Resident Representative in Nepal,
Matthew Kahane

Matthew Kahane is the United Nations Resident Representative and
Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal. He spoke to IRIN about the hardship
facing Nepali villagers and the measures being taken to prepare for a
possible worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Himalayan
kingdom.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50558&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Confronting human rights violations

The breadth and nature of abuses recorded by international human rights
organisations in Nepal in recent years is sobering. They include
extra-judicial killing, assassination, disappearances, illegal detention
and torture, as well as the bombing of civilian vehicles and other
civilian targets. Of particular concern is the extent to which children
are caught up in the violence. One human rights organisation, Amnesty
International, reported in March 2005 that children were being both
deliberately targeted and indiscriminately killed in attacks.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50552&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Food insecurity and market access in contested districts

harvest seasons of March and August have been part of life in rural
Nepal for decades. Since the start of the Maoist insurgency in 1996,
analysts have been concerned about the impact of the conflict on a rural
population that already lives near or below the global poverty
threshold. Until recently, much of the available information in Nepal on
the impact of conflict on food security, agricultural production,
nutritional status and market access has been largely anecdotal. A
recent exception to this is vulnerability monitoring by the World Food
Programme (WFP), which started in the far and mid-western districts of
Nepal in October 2002.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50551&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Decades of damage to education

The decision in late November 2005 by Nepal's Maoist rebels to form an
alliance with the main political parties against King Gyanendra, has met
with muted enthusiasm from many Nepalis, in particular teachers and
school students who say that even if peace does come to the Himalayan
kingdom, it will take years for Nepal to put its education sector right
again.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50550&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: The conflict's dangerous impact on health services

The three-day journey for 52-year-old Maniram Rai and his wife was
almost too much to bear. In agony with stomach pains and a high fever,
Rai's condition worsened after walking all the way from Lekharka village
in the remote, hilly Bhojpur district, to reach the Nepali city of
Dharan. "This is the reality in our village. We can't even get proper
care, there are no medicines or doctors," said Rai from his bed at the
BP Koirala Hospital in Dharan, where he has been gradually recovering
after a week in intensive care.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50549&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Gulf support for quake relief remains high

Sajad Ahmad, 12, found himself an only child after his brother was
killed in the earthquake that devastated northern Pakistan last October.
With no shoes to protect him from the freezing mud all around, he queues
patiently, along with thousands of others, at a Saudi Arabian-funded
feeding centre in the Bala Noor Shah camp in Muzaffarabad, capital of
Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The beans and rice he receives three
times a day, ladled from vast metal drums bubbling on open fires, are
what will keep him alive until the spring when he may be able to return
to what's left of his village 90 km away in the Neelum Valley.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51521&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Free transport scheme popular among quake survivors

Thousands of quake survivors from remote mountain villages are
benefiting from a new free bus service started by the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) along the banks of the River Kunhar.
The river runs through the quake-ravaged Balakot valley in the Mansehra
district of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "It's a huge
financial relief," Muhammad Aslam, a 38-year-old father of four, said as
he hopped off the bus.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51507&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Single-headed quake households face uncertain future

Thousands of women who lost their husbands in the October quake that
claimed the lives of more than 80,000 in Pakistan's North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir must now struggle
alone as the only breadwinners in their families. "We are trying to
survive on our own. After the quake, we had no house, no shelter, but
thanks to the IOM [International Organization for Migration], we have
shelter," said Atrjan, a mother of six who lost her husband in the
quake. With assistance from IOM, a new house is being built for the
family, from the mountain village of Chattian, 50 km northeast of
Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51423&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Focus on the conflict in Balochistan

An apparent air of calm hangs over the sleepy city of Quetta, the
capital of Pakistan's largest province, Balochistan, lying to the
southwest and bordering Iran and Afghanistan. Along the dusty,
wind-swept streets, where temperatures plummet each night to below 10
degrees centigrade throughout much of the winter, vendors in woven
woollen caps and heavy shawls sell dried fruit, blankets, mittens and
other items on the pavements.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51499&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: 18 people killed by avalanche

An avalanche left 18 people dead and 12 injured on Monday night in the
district of Jirgital, 250 km northeast of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe,
the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. "This happened at night
between 30 and 31 of January. Seven houses near the mountain were
covered by snow and the rescue operation finished today. Eighteen people
died, 20 people were saved, including 12 people with severe frostbite
who are now in a hospital," ministry spokesman Nazokatshoh Saiorabekov
said on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51484&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: NGO calls for health reform in prisons

An international NGO in Tajikistan has called on the ex-Soviet state to
speed up reform of the penal system while taking steps to reduce
infectious disease rates in prison. "Usually NGOs wait a very long time
for the authorities allow us to carry out work on things like HIV/AIDS
prevention among prisoners. It is necessary for Tajikistan to speed up
work in this area and to protect human rights in places of
imprisonment", Shoira Yusupova, programme officer of the British NGO
Christian Aid/Act Central Asia, said on Friday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51524&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion
and Belief seeks visit

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief,
Asma Jahangir, who reports on violations of religious freedom around the
world on behalf of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, continues
to seek invitations to visit the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan. "As part of my mandate, I am keen to visit both of these
countries," Jahangir, a prominent human rights activist and lawyer from
Pakistan, told IRIN from London on Monday, adding: "I hope an invitation
will be forthcoming."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51439&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Access to trial of Andijan activist draws criticism

Local rights groups in Uzbekistan have expressed concern over efforts to
block observers from attending the trial of human rights activist,
Mutabar Tojibaeva, head of the Burning Hearts NGO. The activist had been
particularly vocal following the Andijan massacre of 13 May in which
upwards of 1,000 people may have been killed when government troops
fired on demonstrators protesting against the government of Uzbek
President Islam Karimov.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51468&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


IRIN-Asia
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