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	UN concerned at Libyan Death Sentences for foreign Health Workers by UN News Libya   December 2006   United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced his deep concern at the death sentence imposed by a Libyan court on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for the alleged intentional transmission of HIV/AIDS to hundreds of children.   “I was greatly encouraged by the glimpse of hope offered by the appeals process and by the way the international community had recently come together to provide treatment and medicines to the infected children,” he said in a statement, referring to a Libyan Supreme Court’s order for a retrial after an earlier death sentence.   “I am deeply concerned by confirmation of a guilty verdict and a death sentence and, therefore, appeal to the Libyan and the international community to continue working together in a spirit of reconciliation. Once again, I offer the support of the United Nations in all efforts to address the needs of the infected children and to find a humane solution for the fate of the medics,” he added.   The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) earlier this week called on the Libyan courts to review the death sentence in light of evidence showing that the virus circulated before the health workers’ arrival.   “UNAIDS is concerned that certain scientific evidence appears to have not been taken into consideration and that this raises serious doubts regarding the conclusion reached by the court,” it said.   “As published in the scientific journal Nature, an analysis of HIV and hepatitis virus samples taken from some of the children concluded that the HIV viral strains were circulating in the hospital where the children were treated before the nurses and doctor arrived in March 1998,” it added.   The six health care workers, imprisoned since 1999, are accused of deliberately infecting 426 children whilst working at a hospital in Benghazi. Since 1999, 52 of the children have died.
	Human Rights abused in Asia in 2006 by Asian Human Rights Commission   Hong Kong, December 21, 2006   2006 has been a year in which the AHRC has noted continuing discontent over malfunctioning democracies and legal systems and the consequent setbacks these shortcomings cause for human rights and the rule of law.   Specifically, Asia"s people feel discontent over the authoritarianism of democratically elected governments as well as military regimes. They are restlessness over restrictions on their freedom of expression, association and assembly. They are angry at the use of martial law and emergency and terrorism laws that steal their rights in the name of making them secure. They are frustrated over rampant corruption and dissatisfied over the ineffectiveness of states to stop manifold forms of discrimination that are widely experienced throughout the continent. They are distressed as extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture continue unabated, and they are disappointed over the ineffectiveness of parliaments, judiciaries, police forces and prosecution systems to address these deficiencies.   Moreover, states are not dealing with this discontent in a positive manner by trying to resolve these problems. Instead, governments resort to even worse military and policing methods to deal with them. This is the grim picture of Asia as it approaches 2007.   2006 has witnessed certain notably highs and lows. Firstly, Nepal has witnessed a historic popular revolt that has effectively over-thrown the country"s King, whose regime was responsible for gross and massive violations of human rights. This has led to a political process that could well enable a lasting end to the internal conflict that has raged in the country for over a decade, if all parties abide by their commitments, although much needs to be done in order to dismantle impunity and achieve justice for the thousands of human rights victims in the country.   Sri Lanka has descended into further violence, and the AHRC has branded the country the most violent place in Asia at the moment, with the State having singularly failed to take any serious steps to bring the situation under control.   In Thailand, respect for human rights and the rule of law were set back many years with the return to power of the military on September 19.   The Philippines has been the stage of a campaign widespread, targeted political extra-judicial killings, accompanied by the abject failure of the government to do anything to halt them or bring those accountable to justice.   In other countries, such as Bangladesh, Burma, and Pakistan, endemic, gross violations continue unabated, while the international community turns a blind eye. In India, the majority of the population continue to suffer from poverty and a lack of access to rights, despite the much heralded economic boom that the country is experiencing.   To surmise, in all the countries contained in the AHRC"s Human Rights Report for 2006, serious violations of human rights are ongoing, impunity prevails, and the institutions of the rule of law are failing to carry out the basic functions of protecting individuals" rights, notably those of the millions of poor and/or marginalised members of society. Visit the related web page
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