PACIFIC DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK (PDMIN) 1 Jarrett White Road MCPA-DM, Tripler AMC, HI 96859-5000 Telephone: 808.433.7035 · [email protected] · http://www.coe-dmha.org Asia-Pacific Daily Report January 26, 2004 Afghanistan Polio vaccination campaign underway in Afghanistan Today, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), launched a three-day polio vaccination campaign aimed at vaccinating some five million children across the country up to age five. MoPH has deployed some 40,000 volunteers, mainly women who are traveling from village to village and house to house across the country who would cover every district in the country with the exception of few areas that are inaccessible due to heavy snow. The vaccination campaign is part of the United Nations Global Polio Eradication Initiative spearheaded by WHO, UNICEF, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Rotary International. Afghanistan is among the seven countries, including Pakistan, India, Niger, Nigeria, Egypt, and Somalia, where polio is still endemic. According to Afghan MoPH, Afghanistan has made considerable progress in fighting the crippling disease. Last year only eight cases of the disease were recorded. Officials hope to eradicate the poliovirus in Afghanistan by the end of this year. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39126&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/e6c10eeae1596a2e49256e2700192a56?OpenDocumen t Afghan President Hamid Karzai signs country's new constitution into law Today, Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed Afghanistan’s new constitution into law in a ceremony attended by his ministers, foreign dignitaries and military officials at the foreign ministry in the Afghan capital Kabul. The 162-article document that was ratified by a constitutional Loya Jirga (grand assembly) earlier this month (January 4) paves the way for nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled in June this year. The new constitution gives the president sweeping powers that include the appointments of cabinet ministers, the attorney general, the Supreme Court chief justice, judges and ambassadors. Under the new constitution, the president also acts as the commander-in-chief of the military. In a statement, US ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad called the enactment of the new constitution a “turning point for Afghan nation.” http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20040126_243.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/3428935.stm Asia Asian health officials say bird flu outbreak spreading rapidly across region Asian health officials say that the bird flu outbreak is spreading fast across the region and has now hit Pakistan, bringing the amount of countries affected to eight nations. At least 7 people have been confirmed dead from the disease, including the latest victim from Thailand. The other six confirmed deaths were all from Vietnam, which is the country that so far has been worst affected by the outbreak. Bird flu has so far hit Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Health officials so far say that they believe that there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission. However, experts have been warning that if the disease mutated enough to allow transmission that way, it could become a bigger health threat than Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The World Health Organization (WHO) says that a vaccine for the disease is at least some 6 months away because the virus appears to keep mutating and because it also appears to be resistant to cheaper anti-viral drugs used to treat regular influenza, CNN reports. Meanwhile, Thai officials say that the country will host a meeting this Wednesday (January 28) of senior health and agricultural officials on bird flu. Asian countries so far affected by the outbreak will send representatives, while Hong Kong, Singapore and the European Union, will also send officials as well. http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/01/26/bird.flu/index.html http://asia.news.yahoo.com/040125/afp/040125111742int.html Cambodia Political activist shot dead in latest of political killings, human rights groups warn of growing atmosphere of fear An activist from Cambodia’s royalist FUNCINPEC party, Meach Youen, was reportedly shot dead today in the southwestern region, the fifth murder this month of people linked to the Alliance of Democrats. The Alliance was formed between the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and FUNCINPEC last July, following inconclusive national polls in the same month. The Alliance has been negotiating unsuccessfully for several months to form a three-party government with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). “For some in the ruling party, political killing is the default method for eliminating stubborn but peaceful opponents,” said Steve Heder, a Cambodian specialist at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. The killing follows the assassination of a top union leader, Chea Vichea, last week. Vichea was the outspoken leader of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which is affiliated with the SRP and is Cambodia’s largest independent union with about 30,000 members. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral yesterday. Human rights groups in the country have warned that the string of assassinations of the political opposition has created an atmosphere of fear as no arrests have been made. A number of activists affiliated with FUNCINPEC and the SRP were also killed in the run-up to and after, last year’s July polls. “I think that the killings here are sending a message of threats,” said Pa Nguon Tean, a spokesperson for the independent Cambodian Center for Human Rights, adding that more rights violations were likely if nothing was done. The US-based NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the US State Department and the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) have all criticized Vichea’s assassination. Other assassinations in the past three months included a radio journalist and a popular singer. The CPP took power in 1979 after a Vietnamese invasion ousted the ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge, which is suspected of killing at least 1.7 million Cambodians during its 1975-79 rule. http://www.atimes.com http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_1031871.htm http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=22104 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/01/25/2003092476 India 60,000 Indian troops deployed in northeast India as rebels strike on Republic Day According to news reports today, at least 60,000 soldiers were deployed to India’s restive northeast as at least 9 separatist groups called for a 17-hour strike to protest India’s Republic Day today. The strike was called in 5 of India’s 7 northeast states, except for Mizoram and Nagaland states. Mizoram’s main insurgency has been resolved, while Nagaland’s rebel groups are observing a ceasefire with New Delhi. At least 16 people, including 8 paramilitary soldiers and 8 civilian loggers, were killed in the past week in violence in Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur. Rebels in Assam and Manipur claim that they have killed 24 security personnel since January 10. However, army personnel said that no other major incidents of violence have been reported. Militants in the region have long boycotted India’s Independence (in August) and Republic Day celebration to protest New Delhi’s rule in the region, which is rich in oil, timber and other resources. There are about 50 rebel groups and 200 ethnic groups in the northeastern region. Approximately 50,000 people have died in the insurgency since Indian independence in 1947. http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidType=RIN&hidRecord=0000000000000000000198 http://www.keralanext.com/new/index.asp?id=24753 Kashmiri separatists may drop demand for UN plebiscite; Violence kills 4 civilians as strike called for Republic Day Maulana Abbas Ansari, leader of the main Kashmiri separatist political alliance, has reportedly said that he would call for the end of a UN plebiscite for Kashmir, a decades-old demand of Kashmiri separatists and Pakistan, should peace talks succeeed. “If India, Pakistan and Kashmiris resolve the issue of Kashmir to the satisfaction of all three parties, we will ourselves go to UN and urge it to drop all Kashmir-related resolutions,” said Ansari, speaking for the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC). Shortly after the 1947 partition, a UN resolution was made for a Kashmiri plebiscite to choose between merging with India, Pakistan or independence, which India has long denied. In an unprecedented move last November, Pakistan had said it would consider dropping the plebiscite demand, which paved the way for landmark talks earlier this month and an agreement for India-Pakistan talks next month. The statement also comes after the APHC held unprecedented talks with Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani last week. New Delhi has long refused to talk to Kashmiri separatists, saying that they do not represent the Kashmiri people and had long contended that Kashmir is a part of Indian territory, not a dispute. Separatist hardliners have criticized the peace moves and rebels have vowed to continue their armed struggle. According to the Kashmir Times today, a high-level US delegation is expected to meet informally with Ansari as well as with Indian-controlled Kashmir (IcK) Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, to discuss recent peace moves. In addition, Advani is expected in IcK tomorrow to evaluate the security situation along the disputed Line of Control (LoC), where an India-Pakistan ceasefire has held since last November. Meanwhile, a strike was called by the hardline faction of the APHC, which broke away last year and is led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to protest India’s Republic Day today.