Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

02/29/2008

02/29/2008 The 22-member Arab League recently introduced a regional policy to regulate satellite television broadcasting services that will "restrict freedom of expression and information," writes an international human rights watchdog.
From: Human Rights Watch

02/29/2008 A program in the poverty-stricken Central Terai region of Nepal seeks to improve women's and girls' health by training young people as peer educators, community activists, and counselors in the fields of health, family planning, and HIV/AIDS.

02/29/2008 India has announced its budget for the next financial year. In a move to provide a major relief to the small farmers, the government has decided to cancel their entire debt. It may be noted that for past many years now the farmers have been committing suicides due to indebtedness and other related reasons.

02/29/2008 International non-governmental organisations in Pakistan have come under considerable pressure after an attack on a UK-based Plan International office in Mansehra near Islamabad, in which four people had died. In recent years, threats have been directed against NGOs and their staff, particularly women.

02/29/2008 Suomen Attac vaatii Nokiaa palauttamaan saamansa julkiset tuet, koska yhtiö tekee yhteistyötä ihmisoikeuksia polkevan Turkmenistanin kanssa. Attac vaatii, että yritysten julkisen tukemisen ehdoksi asetetaan demokratian ja ihmisoikeuksien kunnioittaminen.

02/29/2008 Sadat tuhannet Iranista häädetyt afgaanit asuvat vaatimattomissa telttaleireissä ympäri Afganistania. Karkotetut jäävät kaiken avun ulkopuolelle.

02/29/2008 Two studies by the Urban Health Resource Centre talk of maternal and newborn care among the poor in central India and state of urban health in the national capital. Apart from highlighting the need for better access to healthcare facilities, the reports underline the cultural factors and prevalence of poverty as obstacles.

02/29/2008 Despite the global interest in the rise of China, no-one is paying much attention to its ideas and who produces them. Yet China has a surprisingly lively intellectual class whose ideas may prove a serious challenge to western liberal hegemony, says Mark Leonard.
From Prospect

02/28/2008 Alarming local and international rights activists, several officials in the Thai government are speaking freely about the 'necessity' of using extra-judicial killings as part of a national clampdown on narcotics.

02/28/2008 Poikkeustilan aikana Bangladeshissa on pidätetty 250 000 ihmistä, ja monia pidätettyjä on kidutettu. Vastikään ilmoitettiin tammikuussa 2007 julistetun poikkeustilan pidentämisestä 13 kuukaudella.

02/28/2008 An international media freedom group has voiced concern over the health of detained Chinese cyber-dissident and human rights lawyer Yang Maodong, who has been on hunger strike for 11 weeks.
+ CPJ Highlights China's Poor Press Record

02/28/2008 Suomalainen oikeuslääketieteen asiantuntijaryhmä oli äskettäin Nepalissa tutkimassa Shivapurin kansallispuistosta löytyneen oletetun hautapaikan jäännöksiä. Nyt Nepalin ihmisoikeuskomissio on pyytänyt maataan lähettämään tutkimuslöydökset Suomeen lähempiin tutkimuksiin.

02/28/2008 According to a recent study, around a million people will die of smoking in India alone in next two years. The country is on the threshold of a tobacco-unleashed epidemic, says Ramesh Menon, a journalist cum documentary filmmaker and recipient of the 2006 Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.

02/28/2008 Hundreds of children who had witnessed a blast in Afghanistan’s Baghlan city last November are still traumatised, suffering from paranoia, dizziness, stress and sleeping disorders. Health experts are of the view that children in the conflict-affected country are at risk of suffering deep scars of war.

02/28/2008 There are approximately 60 million persons with disabilities in India. Most of them are poor, living in rural areas. It is pity that only 1.5% of them are the beneficiaries of various poverty alleviation and welfare schemes.

02/28/2008 Penguasaan sepihak atas hak tanah terulang kembali. Kali ini Perhutani Pacet yang mencaplok tanah warga Sendi di Mojokerto. Perhutani mengklaim bahwa kawasan itu merupakan hutan yang menjadi wilayah kekuasaannya.

02/28/2008 Yayasan AirPutih punya kantor baru. Kantor baru itu berwarna biru yang terletak di Jalan Abdullah Syafei Nomor 55, Casablanca, Tebet.Kepindahan ini dilakukan agar AirPutih mendapatkan tempat yang lebih representatif. Apalagi, di gedung ini tak hanya dilakukan aktivitas harian AirPutih, melainkan juga berbagai pelatihan

02/28/2008 Selama 20 tahun terakhir, orangutan sudah kehilangan 80% hutan tempat mereka tinggal. Spesies orangutan dihadapkan akan kenyataan akan punah dalam kurun waktu 10 hingga 20 tahun mendatang. Ancaman tersebut datang dari penebangan liar, pertambangan, kebun sawit, dan sebagainya.

02/28/2008 Berbagai protes yang dilancarkan oleh para pecinta lingkungan tidak juga membuat Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) bersedia mencabut PP 2/2008. Rupanya nafsu untuk mengejar target pertumbuhan ekonomi talah mengalahkan kepentingan untuk melindungi keselamatan warganya.