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Tuesday 21 February 2006


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Middle East

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 52 for 9–15 December 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

MIDDLE EAST: “Invisible” children suffering from neglect, says UNICEF
IRAQ: Elections get underway amid tight security
IRAQ: Morgue can’t cope with numbers of bodies arriving on a daily basis, doctors say
IRAQ: Optimism high as preparations for national elections continue
IRAQ-SYRIA: Expatriates vote as refugees remain stranded on border
IRAQ: NGO calls for accurate civilian death toll
IRAQ: New high-tech passports unpopular with locals
IRAQ: Children of mixed marriages protest official discrimination
IRAQ: Many displaced in west fear returning home
JORDAN: Call for abolition of death penalty due to miscarriage of justice
JORDAN: Iraqi expats urged to vote in elections
LEBANON: Leprosy still a problem
LEBANON: Al-Nahar editor-in-chief killed in car-bomb attack
LEBANON-SYRIA: Final UN report on Hariri killing slams Syrian non-cooperation
SYRIA: Workshop discusses effects of TV war coverage on children
YEMEN: Ten-year plan aims at liberating judiciary
YEMEN: Newspaper suspensions, alleged assaults raise press freedom concerns
EGYPT: Experts ponder implications following election
EGYPT: Activists call appointments of women, minorities “fig-leaf”
MIDDLE EAST: Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest

MIDDLE EAST: “Invisible” children suffering from neglect, says UNICEF

Many children in the Middle East continue to suffer from abuse, exploitation and discrimination, while health and education services are not reaching those most in need, according to UNICEF’s 2006 State of the World’s Children report.

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IRAQ: Elections get underway amid tight security

Iraqis descended on polling stations on Thursday to choose the country’s first full-term democratic parliament, despite the threat of violence.

Full report

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IRAQ: Morgue can’t cope with numbers of bodies arriving on a daily basis, doctors say

Lack of space and a shortage of doctors to deal with corpses at Baghdad’s only mortuary is causing a delay in the release of bodies for burial.

Full report

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IRAQ: Optimism high as preparations for national elections continue

Expectations of a high turnout in tomorrow’s national elections remain high, as preparations for the contest continue countrywide.

Full report

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IRAQ-SYRIA: Expatriates vote as refugees remain stranded on border

Iraqi expatriates turned out in large numbers at makeshift polling stations in the capital, Damascus, to vote in Iraqi parliamentary elections.

Full report

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IRAQ: NGO calls for accurate civilian death toll

A Washington-based humanitarian organisation urged the US government this week to accurately count and identify all civilian casualties of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, following a recent announcement by US President George Bush that 30,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed to date.

Full report

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IRAQ: New high-tech passports unpopular with locals

A plan by the interior ministry to introduce a new generation of high-tech passports, ostensibly aimed at curbing the influx of insurgents into the country, has received mixed reactions amongst Iraqis.

Full report

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IRAQ: Children of mixed marriages protest official discrimination

Sarah Hussein, 12-years-old, prepares her bags with her mother before travelling to Syria. She is leaving Iraq because she no longer has a right to a free education, and her family cannot afford the US $1,000 asked of them by the Iraqi government for Sarah to continue her studies.

Full report

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IRAQ: Many displaced in west fear returning home

Hundreds of families remain displaced after US-led offensives earlier this month against insurgent activity in the cities of Ramadi and al-Qaim in the west of the country, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS).

Full report

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JORDAN: Call for abolition of death penalty due to miscarriage of justice

A miscarriage of the Jordanian justice system that led to the execution of a man wrongly convicted of murder in 2000 has become a new reason to abolish the death penalty in the Kingdom, human rights groups said.

Full report

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JORDAN: Iraqi expats urged to vote in elections

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) is appealing to Iraqis living in neighbouring Jordan to vote in upcoming national assembly elections.

Full report

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LEBANON: Leprosy still a problem

Ever since Ahmad, 27, was diagnosed with leprosy three years ago, he has had to face the physical consequences of his condition, as well as the social stigma associated with a disease most think vanished from Lebanon long ago.

Full report

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LEBANON: Al-Nahar editor-in-chief killed in car-bomb attack

Journalists were shocked by the death of Gebran Tueini, editor in chief of leading Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, who was killed in the capital Beirut by two car bombs on Monday, according to initial security reports.

Full report

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LEBANON-SYRIA: Final UN report on Hariri killing slams Syrian non-cooperation

Syria has burned all intelligence documents relating to Lebanon and attempted to hinder a UN inquiry that found further evidence of the involvement of the Syrian intelligence services in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, according to the second report into the killing.

Full report

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SYRIA: Workshop discusses effects of TV war coverage on children

Filmmakers and talented youngsters got together with German experts in Damascus to discuss how television war coverage should best be presented to children at a recently concluded workshop entitled: “Children’s Programmes and Images of War”.

Full report

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YEMEN: Ten-year plan aims at liberating judiciary

After the government announced a strategy aimed at judicial reform last week, opposition groups and lawyers maintained that implementation of the ambitious plan would face an uphill battle.

Full report

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YEMEN: Newspaper suspensions, alleged assaults raise press freedom concerns

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) has continued to express concerns over a perceived deterioration of press freedoms after the suspension of two local newspapers and the alleged beating of a press-rights activist by unknown assailants.

Full report

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EGYPT: Experts ponder implications following election

Last week saw the end of the third and final round of Egypt’s tense parliamentary elections, during which 12 people were killed amid attempts by state security to prevent voters from casting ballots.

Full report

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EGYPT: Activists call appointments of women, minorities “fig-leaf”

The appointment of five women and five Coptic Christians to parliament on 13 December will do little to address the fundamental problem of political exclusion, say activists.

Full report

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MIDDLE EAST: Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest

Activists launched a joint appeal to the Arab world on Friday in Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, to donate more money to ease poverty in Africa.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Children

Other recent MIDDLE EAST reports:

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 61 for 10 - 16 February 2006, 16/Feb/06

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 60 for 3 - 9 February 2006, 12/Feb/06

Journalists hoping to improve reporting on HIV/AIDS, 9/Feb/06

MIDDLE EAST: Weekly round-up Number 59 for 27 January - 2 February 2006, 5/Feb/06

Gulf support for quake likely to continue into reconstruction, 2/Feb/06

Other recent Children reports:

IRAQ: Thousands of families still displaced after flooding, 21/Feb/06

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans, 21/Feb/06

YEMEN: Two killed in flash floods, 21/Feb/06

YEMEN: Measles vaccination campaign launched to prevent children’s deaths, 21/Feb/06

TAJIKISTAN: UN appeal for 2006 launched, 16/Feb/06

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