Police save 11 from trafficking

BBC News (UK – Northern Ireland) – Wed 25 March, 2009

Many trafficking victims are forced into prostitution

Police in Northern Ireland have rescued 11 people from human traffickers in the past year.

New support services are being launched on Wednesday to help victims of international trafficking gangs.

It is being jointly funded by the government and the PSNI. Among the benefits will be secure accommodation, counselling and health care.

It will also provide assistance with living expenses and full access to legal advice and translation services. . .

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Women in the narco infantry

Víctor Ronquillo – Special Correspondent, BBC World Service (BBC Mundo) – Tues 24 March, 2009

Ávila Beltrán, known as the “Queen of the Pacific”, was arrested in Mexico in 2007

A singer of narcocorridos and distinguished member of the Mexican narco aristocracy, Sandra Ávila Beltrán, known as the “Queen of the Pacific” uncovers the fact that more and more women are becoming involved in drug trafficking:

“The party was in full swing and the band was really loud … the man ordered: nobody shoot a beautiful woman who appeared with a ‘cuerno’ (AK-47). The party guests knew immediately who she was, the famous Queen of the Pacific a real heavyweight in the business.”
“Fiesta en la sierra” (Party in the mountains), Los Tucanes de Tijuana

The present government exploited the capture of Ávila Beltrán in Mexico City on 28 September 2007 to demonstrate that the “war against drug trafficking” has achieved important victories, despite the loss of more than 3,000 lives so far this year. . .

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US Muslim media Bridges TV exec charged with beheading co-producer wife

Police say a western New York television executive who sought to improve the image of Muslims in the media beheaded his wife after she filed for divorce. (Feb. 17 AP news report)

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSiDgZ1fhKI]

Muslim TV exec accused of beheading wife in NY

CAROLYN THOMPSON – Associated Press – Wed 18 Feb, 2009

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The crime drips with brutal irony: a woman decapitated, allegedly by her estranged husband, in the offices of the television network the couple founded with the hope of countering Muslim stereotypes.

Muzzammil “Mo” Hassan is accused of beheading his wife last week, days after she filed for divorce. Authorities have not discussed the role religion or culture might have played, but the slaying gave rise to speculation that it was the sort of “honor killing” more common in countries half a world away, including the couple’s native Pakistan.

Funeral services for Aasiya Hassan, 37, were Tuesday. Her 44-year-old husband is scheduled to appear for a felony hearing Wednesday. . .

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INDONESIA: School reconstruction – “building back better”

IRIN Asia – Thursday 22 Jan, 2008

Primary school students are enjoying classes at their newly built school 51 in Banda Aceh City. Some 214 students attend the school – half of them girls. Image: Brennon Jones/IRIN

BANDA ACEH, 22 January 2009 (IRIN) – As horrific as the 2004 Asian tsunami was, 11-year-old Iba Rada points to at least one positive aspect. After thousands of schools were destroyed, the effort to “build back better” – former President Bill Clinton’s slogan for the recovery process – seems to be succeeding in school reconstruction in Banda Aceh City, Aceh Province.

Rada, a student at Public Primary School 51, delights in the new facility. “It’s clean and beautiful and has very good study materials,” she told IRIN.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi (BRR), the Indonesian Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, said on 26 December 2008, the fourth anniversary of the tsunami, that 1,450 school buildings had been rebuilt in the province. . .

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Study: Mongolia Must Battle Increase in Human Trafficking

B.Bulgamaa – UB Post – Leading English News (Mongolia) – Thurs 22 Jan, 2009

Yesterday a human trafficking trial began in the Songino Khairkhan District’s court. A Mongolian national, M.Purevbat, is charged with kidnapping girls and forcing them into the sex trade. According to the charges, Purevbat may be responsible for the disappearances of 100 girls. If convicted, he could face 5- 15 years imprisonment.

According to a report titled “Country Gender Assessment-2008”, which was completed by the National Network of Mongolian Women’s Organizations, together with Asia Development Bank, SDB and CEG, protection against human trafficking, for its victims and witnesses protection have not originated yet in Mongolia. The report says that the lack of protection for victims and witnesses serves as a major deterrent for reporting trafficking and forced prostitution. They also highlighted the serious need for legal reform to ensure compensation for psychological and mental health damage and for broadening legal, social and psychological support to victims, as well as the need for more public awareness and capacity-building of government institutions.

The age of sex workers in Mongolia has decreased significantly. The report also states that Mongolian law favors those who solicit sex, while disproportionately punishing those who illegally provide it as a service. . .

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