Asia-Pacific Daily Report March 4, 2004

Transcription

1 PACIFIC DISASTER MANAGEMENT INFORMATION NETWORK (PDMIN) 1 Jarrett White Road MCPA-DM, Tripler AMC, HI Telephone: PDMIN@coe-dmha.org Afghanistan Asia-Pacific Daily Report March 4, 2004 Afghan President Hamid Karzai sacks Kabul Mayor amid land grab allegations Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reportedly removed Kabul s mayor, Mohammad Anwar Jigdalak, from his post amid allegations of widespread "land grab" and corruption by senior government officials. An anonymous official told Reuters News that Ghulam Sakhi Noorzad, an experienced technocrat and a former mayor, has replaced Jigdalak. Jigdalak was at the center of a land grab scandal last August (2003) in the upmarket Shirpur (also spelled Sher Pur) village in Kabul s Wazir Akbar Khan district after dozens of long-time poor residents were evicted from their homes to make way for the construction of luxurious homes for the ruling class. Karzai removed the chief of security, Basir Salangi, for bulldozing dozens of homes after United Nations and international human rights organizations condemned actions of the city officials. The scandal drew international attention after Miloon Kothari, a Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, publicly named the powerful Afghan Defense Minister, Mohammed Qasim Fahim, and Education Minister, Yunis Qanooni, in the scandal last September. Karzai launched an investigation into the incident and ordered a halt on construction of new houses. The construction of the houses for government officials is reportedly still underway. Experts have warned that until a comprehensive National Housing and Land Policy was adopted by the government, insecurity would continue to persist across the war-ravaged nation

2 Bangladesh 1 killed in bomb attack in restive southern region as US expert team investigates arms smuggling; According to News from Bangladesh today, a political leader belonging to the Jubo League was killed and 3 others injured in a bomb attack at a bus stop in Bagerhat district on Tuesday night (March 2). Police suspect that criminal extremists were responsible for the incident which occurred after police went on alert in nearby Bagerhat, Khulna and Jessore districts following the recent arrests of several wellknown outlaws earlier this week. In the past 10 days, 2 people have been killed in bomb attacks at the same bus stop, and at least 3 politicians and 1 prominent journalist have been killed by suspected leftist militants in the southern region in the past month. Past army operations to rid the region of criminal activities, which observers say is fueled by an illegal arms trade with India s neighboring restive northeast, have failed to yield any progress on improving stability in the region. A team of US experts reportedly visited the southeastern region of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) yesterday to investigate the illegal arms smuggling trade and give related advice to Bangladesh authorities. According to unidentified sources, the Muslim minority Rohinga and ethnic Arakanese are mainly involved in the illegal trade and operate along the porous border with India. There are reportedly at least 37 illegal arms smuggling syndicates in CHT and some 50,000 illegal firearms that include sophisticated weapons. Several armed militant groups, such as the Bengal Tiger Force (BTF) have been active in CHT, while 2 new organizations have recently started up in Banderban district, the Democratic Peoples of Arakan (DPA), which is involved in the trade, and the Arakan Army (AA). A large insurgency movement of ethnic indigenous rebels was fought for decades with the country s Bengali majority in

3 CHT until a 1997 peace agreement. However, recent unrest threatens to undermine agreement, which proponents say is not being properly implemented by the government. Laos About 700 Hmong rebels reportedly surrender to Laotian government According to the Thai-based The Nation today, Thai and Laotian security officials said at least 700 Hmong rebels and their relatives have surrendered to the Laotian government. According to a senior official from the Laotian Defense Ministry, about 300 rebels from the ethnic Hmong group surrendered in the tourist province of Luang Prabang, while another 400 surrendered in Xiang Khuang province. According to the US-funded Radio Free Asia, Laotian soldiers had reportedly surrounded several northern Lao areas late last month, where many of the rebels are still active. According to The Nation, a Thai intelligence officer confirmed the announcement, but questioned the numbers and other details. The Hmong are the largest ethnic group in Laos and had supported the US during the Vietnam War in the 1970s. After the rise of communists in Laos and Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of Hmong fled to the US and neighboring Thailand, but some of those left behind have continued their insurgency. In recent months, there have been a number of small-scale attacks on civilians and security forces, including tourists, in Laos. According to a recent US State Department report, although there are a number of top Hmong officials in the Laotian government, discrimination against the Hmong continues. Last month, the US agreed to resettle some 15,000 long-term Hmong refugees in Thailand, which had 30,000 refugees last year. The move may ease tensions between the Thai and Laotian governments as the Laotian government has accused the Thai government of allowing Hmong rebels to shelter on its territory.

4 Myanmar UN envoy Razali Ismail says the Myanmar government and the opposition leader ready to work toward democracy United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, said today that the Myanmar government and the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi appear to be ready to work together to take the country towards democracy. Speaking to reporters in the Malysian capital Kuala Lumpur upon his return from a four-day visit to Myanmar, Razali said, he thinks Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt is truly committed to take the political process to a transition to democracy and is of the opinion that a working relationship can be established with Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy (NDL). He added that Suu Kyi has assured him that she was prepared to turn a new page. Razali said Suu Kyi and other NLD officials might be freed by April 16 in time for Myanmar s New Year. Razali s visit focused on the military junta s roadmap to democracy announced last August. As part of the plan, a national convention is planned this year to write a new constitution, which Western critics have treated with much skepticism. Last week, the US said that it would not join a second round of international talks on Myanmar to be hosted by Thailand, saying that it will not participate until Suu Kyi is released, and dialogue begun with Suu Kyi and representatives of minority and rebel groups. The Thai government plans to broker a peace process in Myanmar, termed the Bangkok Process," and Thailand hosted the first 12-nation meeting in Myanmar in December The Myanmar military government is under intense international pressure following the crackdown on Suu Kyi her party officials last May. The US and the EU have tightened their sanctions against Myanmar since last May and Japan has refused further economic aid to the country. Nepal At least two killed by Maoist rebels; 5th strike in a month paralyzes Kathmandu At least 2 security troops were killed when Maoist rebels ambushed an army vehicle in central Sarlahi district, the Times of India reports. Additionally, Maoists are being blamed for the bombings of three government buildings, including the regional office of Royal Nepal Airlines, in Nepalgunj in western Banke district. Bombs were also set off at the office of the Nepal Cotton Development Company and an office of the Nepal Industrial Corporation, also in Nepalgunj. No casualties were reported in those incidents. In the meantime, Nepali security troops have started a huge operation after yesterday s attack by Maoist rebels in remote eastern Bhojpur district, which left at least 29 security troops dead, 7 others injured and at least 10 others missing. The attack on security troops guarding a telephone tower was reportedly the worst since the Maoists walked out of peace talks with the government in August In other news, the reports say that life in the capital Kathmandu was again brought to a near standstill after

5 a pro-maoist trade union called for the fifth strike to be held in the capital in a month. The trade union called for the general strike to protest against the arrest of some of its workers. Close to 9,000 people have been killed in violence since the Maoist rebels began their rebellion to topple the country s constitutional monarchy and replace it with a communist republic in Sri Lanka Scandinavian peace monitors hold urgent meeting with Tiger rebels after alleged split between leader and regional commander Following reports of a possible split between Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his eastern military commander Colonel Karuna, Scandinavian peace monitors have met with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders today. Monitors were worried that any possible split might threaten an already fragile peace in the country. Both the LTTE and government have been observing a truce that was signed between the two parties in February General Trond Furuhovde, head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), flew to Kilinochchi in the north to meet with the LTTE s political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan, to discuss the issue, however, no details of the meeting were immediately available. The BBC reports that Furuhovde only described the meeting as being constructive. The situation reportedly developed when Karuna allegedly refused to obey orders from the leadership. However, the prorebel website Tamilnet and a rebel newspaper in the east denied that there was any rift between Prabhakaran and Karuna. Government spokesperson GL Peiris says that he did not want to comment, but added that he felt that there was no threat to the ceasefire. The news comes as the country prepares for snap parliamentary elections to be held on April 2. t Thailand Severe drought expected in Thailand s northeast region, group blames low river levels on China s dam projects According to the Bangkok Post today, a severe drought is predicted for Thailand s northeastern region as water levels in major rivers and dams fell to critical levels. According to the Governor of northeastern Yasothon province, Suthee Makbun, levels in the four major rivers in the province were very low. Thawat Sathiannam, governor of northern Lamphun province, said water shortages were likely in the upcoming dry season as dam water levels were also reportedly low. Thailand s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department last month set up anti-drought centers nationwide to cope with an unusually long dry period that has been forecasted for this year. Thailand s wet monsoon season runs between mid-may to mid-october, and the dry season is the period just before the onset of the monsoon. The Department said last month that the drought is expected to affect more than 10 million people in 68 provinces, except those in the central region. Meanwhile, an environmental group called the

6 Southeast Asia River Network (SEARIN), today said that a series of Chinese hydro-power dams on the upper Mekong River, not climate change, is responsible for lower water levels downstream. The river is not only seriously low, but the level fluctuate. This is unusual, said Chainarong Sretthachau, director of the organization, which is based in the Thai northern city of Chiang Mai, adding that millions of people in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are affected. China is planning 8 dams on the Mekong River. The first, Manwan, was completed in 1996, while the second, Dachaoshan, was completed last November. The next two are called the Xiaowan and Jing Hong. Electricity from the Jing Hong would be sold to Thailand. Chainarong alleged that water levels have fallen dramatically since the Manwan dam opened, and warned that further dam projects would worsen the situation. Violence continues in southern Thailand as military considers partial lift of martial law Violence continued in trouble-hit southern Thailand today as the Bangkok Post reported that a rubber planter was shot dead and 2 others injured in an attack in southern Yala province. Police said the killing may be in retaliation for the recent arrests of suspected separatist leaders. Yesterday, a border police official and a soldier were shot dead in neighboring Pattani province. The incidents are the latest in a series of deadly attacks in southern Thailand since an initial outbreak of violence in early January this year. Since then, at least 45 people have been killed in what Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said totals 76 attacks on officials and civilians. He said that 71 of the attacks were by unidentified armed men on motorcycles, a common form of transportation in the region. The killings have included the unprecedented deaths of Buddhist monks and Muslim leaders. The Thai government has announced a series of initiatives and taskforces, including a 22 billion baht (US$560 million) package to tackle the problem, but representatives of a network of local organizations yesterday urged the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) to build strategies around public participation. The package will consist of 1,000 projects to improve social and economic conditions. Thailand s approximately 5% minority Muslims, most of which live in the south, have often had tensions with the Buddhist majority country and in their ties with Bangkok. Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has urged the restoration of public safety before the projects be implemented. Meanwhile, Chavalit also called for the scaling down of military and police presence today after about 300 people protested the arrest of a village headman yesterday. In addition, Defense Minister Thammarak na Ayudhya today said martial law, in effect in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat since January, could be lifted in trouble-free areas soon, which government officials have urged. The announcement also occurred after 5 militant suspects were reportedly tortured by security forces to extract confessions. The Thai National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) made the accusation after a one-week investigation trip to the region. A Muslim separatist movement in Thailand s south in the 1970 s and 1980 s was largely neutralized by government amnesty in the early 1990 s

7 Other World News World Canadian rights group releases report on girl combatants The Canadian Human Rights Organization, Rights and Democracy, says that girls (defined as those under 18) have been part of government militia or rebel forces in more than 50 countries over the past few years. The report is called Where are the Girls, and focuses mainly on northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique. The report was released today in Montreal by the rights group and the United Nations. The report says that the girls have recently been involved in conflicts from Angola to Sri Lanka. The group says that many of the girls were abducted, had to join the groups to survive, and sexual abuse was widely reported. In part they re going after girls because they re using their labor. In a lot of ways we can think about these children as war slaves. They are porters, they re the cooks, they re the frontline fighters. They re taking care of basically running the compounds and when the fighting starts, it s often the girls and boys that are at the absolute frontlines, Diane Mazarana, one of the report s authors says. The group found that few of the few of the former girl combatants had gone through any demobilization or disarmament programs.