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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 89
9 - 15 September 2006


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Honour killings on the rise
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Registration of Afghan refugees to restart -
   UNHCR
PAKISTAN: Focus on construction challenge in the quake zone
PAKISTAN: United Nations quake zone camp closing
PAKISTAN: Landmine toll increasing in restive Balochistan
PAKISTAN: Government gives in to religious parties on changes to rape
   law
PAKISTAN: Radio offers hope to quake survivors
NEPAL: Rebels accused of running parallel government
NEPAL: Many IDPs still afraid to return home
NEPAL: Deadly floods continue to blight west
NEPAL: Children still living in fear of Maoist rebels
TURKMENISTAN: Jailed RFE/RL journalist died in custody - rights group
KYRGYZSTAN: Growing need for rural pre-schools
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


AFGHANISTAN: Honour killings on the rise

A weak judiciary, a lack of law enforcement and widespread discriminatory 
practices against women are fuelling a rise in honour killings in 
Afghanistan, officials from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission 
(AIHRC) said on Friday.


AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Registration of Afghan refugees to restart - UNHCR

Pakistan will start countrywide registration of millions of Afghan 
refugees from mid-October this year and will provide them with refugee 
identity cards valid for three years, the office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday in the Afghan 
capital, Kabul.


PAKISTAN: Focus on construction challenge in the quake zone

Perched on a grassy hilltop in Langla, 40 km east of Muzaffarabad, capital 
of quake-affected Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the home of Mohammad 
Munir begins to take shape. ~SI hope to finish my home in two months - 
just before the winter,~T the 40-year-old furniture maker proclaimed, 
gently placing his shovel aside to wipe the pearls of sweat from his face.


PAKISTAN: United Nations quake zone camp closing

The United Nations camp in quake-affected Muzaffarabad, capital of 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and a key staging ground for one of the 
largest international humanitarian responses ever, will close at the end 
of September.


PAKISTAN: Landmine toll increasing in restive Balochistan

Rauf Ahmed, 30, who runs a bustling fruit stall in the town of Mach, is 
largely unbothered by his limp. "My right leg hurts sometimes, but not 
often. I have now become used to the fact that I limp and my right foot 
has several toes that are mangled," he said.


PAKISTAN: Government gives in to religious parties on changes to rape law

In the latest episode of a saga over the controversial Hudood ordinances 
in Pakistan, which cover crimes including rape and adultery, the federal 
government has struck a compromise with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), 
a coalition of six hardline religious parties.


PAKISTAN: Radio offers hope to quake survivors

Radio programmes that target the needs of quake survivors are gaining in 
popularity in displaced persons camps like the one in Upper Bab-e-Neelum 
in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.


NEPAL: Rebels accused of running parallel government

Maoist leader Purna Subedi is regarded by local residents as the most 
powerful person in Nepalganj, Nepal~Rs key border city, which lies 600 km 
west of the capital, Kathmandu.


NEPAL: Many IDPs still afraid to return home

Baisali Buda and her four young children have spent the last four years in 
poverty as internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nepal~Rs remote western 
disctricts. Lif e has been so hard that Buda would have gladly swapped her 
existence for a chance to work in India for very low wages.


NEPAL: Deadly floods continue to blight west

Nine people have died as a result of floods and landslides in the remote 
western districts of Chitwan and Tanahu as heavy rains continue to cause 
destruction in the region, the Nepal Red Cross (NRC) said on Tuesday.


NEPAL: Children still living in fear of Maoist rebels

Every morning as 13-year-old Bimala Timilsina walks towards her Chandanath 
High School in Jumla, nearly 800 km northwest of the Nepali capital, 
Kathmandu, she is afraid that Maoist rebels will abduct her and force her 
to join their movement. ~SFor how long should we, children, live in fear 
and with insecurity like this?~T asked Timilsina, who recounted that the 
Maoists often came to her school and organised Maoists~R revolutionary 
programmes.


TURKMENISTAN: Jailed RFE/RL journalist died in custody - rights group

An imprisoned Turkmen journalist, Ogulsapar Muradova, who had been working 
for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was reported dead in custody 
on Thursday, according to the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF).


KYRGYZSTAN: Growing need for rural pre-schools

Farmers Almagul Akerova, 33, and her husband are struggling to look after 
their younger children while they work due to a lack of pre-school 
facilities in their province of Batken, more than 14 hours~R drive 
southwest from the capital, Bishkek.


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia, Uzbek authorities on Thursday lashed out at the 
international aid group Save the Children, accusing it of falsifying 
information about the Central Asian nation in a report on access to 
education, AP reported.


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