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Warden Message: Kabul Roads Threat, Travel Restriction
Consular Affairs Bulletins
South / Central Asia - Afghanistan
28 Feb 2007
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Warden Message: Potential Unrest
U.S. Embassy Kabul issued the following Warden Message on February 28:
The U.S. Embassy has received information about an increased threat of attacks on Jalalabad and Airport (Great Massoud) Roads. Use of these roads by Embassy personnel is restricted until further notice. The Embassy continues to recommend that all American citizens in Afghanistan maintain a high level of vigilance, and avoid unnecessary travel.
Americans in Afghanistan are urged to monitor the local news and maintain contact with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. As the Embassy continues to develop information on any potential security threats to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan, it will share them with the American community via the Warden System. We take this opportunity to remind the community of the continuing threats outlined in the current Travel Warning for Afghanistan and Worldwide Caution Public Announcement. The full text of each can be found at http://travel.state.gov. Updated information may also be obtained by contacting the American Embassy in Kabul at usconsulkabul@state.gov or by calling the Consular Section on 070-20-1908.
The Department of State also shares information through its consular information program documents, available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov. In addition to information on the Internet, U.S. travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. or outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07020147.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Activist Testifies at U.N. Conference on State-Sponsored Rape
By Jeremy Reynalds
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
SURREY, ENGLAND (ANS) -- A young woman activist from Burma gave heartrending testimony recently at U.N. conference about state-sanctioned rape.
Burma is in Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that Cheery Zahau, Coordinator of the Women’s League of Chinland, presented evidence of widespread rape by the Burma Army. She referred to past reports of the use of rape in Shan, Karen, Karenni and Mon states, and presented fresh evidence of rape in Chin State.
Zahau highlighted 38 cases of rape by the Burma Army against Chin women, five of which involved girls under the age of 18, including a 12-year-old victim. Almost half were gang rapes.
"Often the rapes have been carried out with extreme brutality and in some cases they resulted in the death of the victim. In one case, a woman was stripped naked and hung on a cross, in a deliberate act of mockery against her Christian religion," CSW reported Zahau said. "This indicates that sexual violence is being deliberately used as a weapon to torture and terrorize local ethnic populations into submission."
CSW stated Zahau added, "There is a collective understanding among the troops that they can rape with impunity. About a third of the rapes were committed by officers, sometimes in their own army camps."
Zahau urged the U.N. Security Council to continue to address the crisis in Burma, and called on China and Russia to reconsider their position and support a resolution on Burma, which they vetoed in Jan. She also encouraged India to reconsider its policies of economic and military engagement with the Burmese regime.
"We are convinced that only genuine political change to democracy, restoration of the rule of law, establishment of a civilian government through free and fair elections, and a withdrawal of Burma Army troops from ethnic areas will bring an end to the systematic sexual violence in Burma," CSW reported Zahau said.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW said in a news release, "We are delighted that Cheery Zahau was chosen to speak at this conference. We stand fully behind her and other such brave activists who are involved in the difficult and dangerous work of documenting gross violations of human rights, and informing the world. The Chin people are among the most forgotten people in the world, and we will do all we can to raise awareness of their plight. The grotesque use of rape as a weapon of war by the regime in Burma must be brought to an end."
The conference was organized by the U.S.-U.N. Office, at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Zahau was a member of a joint Chin and Kachin delegation which recently visited London, Brussels, Berlin and Washington, D.C. to raise awareness about human rights violations in Burma, including sexual violence, human trafficking and religious persecution. The visit was organized by CSW.
Additional information about the Chin people is available at www.chinland.org. To learn more about CSW go to www.csw.org.uk
Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.
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