Articles: Taleban Onslaught Undermines Afghan Peace Effort
Region: Afghanistan
As insurgents pick off officials in targeted attacks, negotiators face mounting pressure to explain lack of visible progress towards peace deal. A recent spate of insurgent attacks has intensified the criticism of official attempts to engage the Taleban in peace talks. The High Peace Council set up by President Hamed Karzai last autumn is beset on all sides. Some accuse it of being too ready to make concessions to terrorists, while others say the unrelenting wave of Taleban attacks indicates ... more
Views: 1562Top War Crimes Suspect Mladic Captured, Faces Extradition
Region: Serbia
Top War Crimes Suspect Mladic Captured, Faces Extradition Serbian president says "difficult" phase in country's history now over. The arrest of General Ratko Mladic, commander of the Bosnian Serb army during the 1990s conflict, means the last top-level official accused of genocide and war crimes in the former Yugoslavia will finally be brought before the Hague tribunal. Serbian president Boris Tadic confirmed that the former general had been arrested inside the country. The arrest was ... more
Views: 1786Female Suicide “Epidemic” in Tajikistan
Region: TajikistanFemale Suicide “Epidemic”in Tajikistan Unchecked domestic violence seen as root cause. By Mukammal Odinaeva in Dushanbe (07-May-09) “One winter evening I went out into the yard, poured aviation fuel over my legs and set fire to myself,” said Mosharif, a young Tajik woman from Vakhsh in eastern Tajikistan. She was taken to hospital and survived, but she regrets that she did. “Why did they save me? I don’t want to live like this,” she said.... more
Views: 3981In Sudan, Activists Mount Legal Challenge to NGO Closures
Region: Sudan
Civil society groups attempt to resist government crackdown in wake of ICC’s indictment of Bashir. By Amy Stillman in London (AR No. 209, 9-Apr-09) It was late in the afternoon when the letter arrived at the Sudan Social Development Organization, SUDO, headquarters in Khartoum. Signed by the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Assistance Commission, HAC, it sounded the death knell for the largest Sudanese humanitarian organisation operating in Darfur. Claiming that S... more
Views: 2469Syrian Rappers Find Their Voice
Region: Syrian Arab Republic
By an IWPR-trained reporter (01-Apr-09) With a swift move, he brings the microphone close to his mouth. “Brothers in Gaza, my microphone is your cannon. You kneel down only to God, and no one can force you to surrender,” blares out Hani al-Sawah, as if on stage in front of a huge audience. But Sawah, 20, is performing with friends in his bedroom and makeshift recording studio in the city of Homs. Sawah’s head is shaved – his only obvious fashion statement, thoug... more
Views: 2602ICC Urges Congo to Hand Over Ntaganda
Region: Congo
By Jacques Kahorha in Goma and Lisa Clifford in The Hague (AR No. 199, 29-Jan-09) ICC indictee Bosco Ntaganda shakes hands with Congo's interior minister Celestin Mbuyu. © Jacques Kahorha/Goma “We are very, very, very happy,” said Yves Jean Bosco Batechi from the North Kivu village of Matanda as he celebrated the news that the rebels waging war on the Congolese... more
Views: 2263Darfur's Janjaweed Loyalty to Bashir Under Strain
Region: Sudan
By Abdhalla Tajeldin Adam in Belgium (AR No. 198, 27-Jan-09) The pending indictment of Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court, ICC, appears to have eroded critical support for the embattled Sudanese president among his notorious janjaweed militia allies. Often translated as “devils on horseback”, the janjaweed are ethnic-Arab militias who have fought alongside the Sudan Armed Forces, SAF, in Darfur against ethnic African rebels. Since ICC chief prosecutor Luis Mo... more
Views: 2092ZImbabwe's Power-Sharing Agreement Brings Hope
Region: Zimbabwe
By Chipo Sithole in Harare (ZCR No. 178, 29-Jan-09) A ray of hope has been flickering in Zimbabwe amid the filth, disease and wasted lives since President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, agreed on January 26 to share power, potentially ushering in the political stability critical for economic recovery. After an all-night emergency summit of Southern African leaders at South Africa’s Presidential Guest House in Pre... more
Views: 2440Georgia: Economic Slump Hurting
Region: GeorgiaOnce buoyant economy is hit by downturn and war over South Ossetia. By Tamar Khorbaladze in Tbilisi Having enjoyed double-digit economic growth for several years, Georgia is now bracing itself for hard times as it comes to terms with the double blow of the August war and the world financial crisis. Since October, increasing numbers of people have lost their jobs, property prices have plunged, banks have reduced lending, and the national currency, the lari, has depreciated sharply. The... more
Views: 1939Ethnic Uzbeks Opt Out of Turkmen Polls
Region: TurkmenistanMany feel alienated by election process and do not plan to lend their votes to anyone. By IWPR staff Members of the sizeable ethnic Uzbek community in Turkmenistan say they will not take part in the December 14 election since they have been given no stake in it. The Uzbeks are the country’s second largest ethnic group after the Turkmen, numbering perhaps 300,000 to 400,000 out of a total population of 5.2 million and concentrated in the Dashoguz and Lebap regions, along the e... more
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