Full Coverage: South West Asia

29.06.2005 Internet censorship in Iran is amongst the most restrictive and sophisticated in the world, a technical study has revealed. And much of the filtering technology in use was developed by western companies.

29.06.2005 Uzbekistan’s Andijan massacre has yet to be independently investigated, largely because of Washington infighting; Rumsfeld's Defense Department is blocking an inquiry called for by Rice's State Department, explains veteran jounalist Ahmed Rashid. By doing so, the U.S. is giving Uzbek president Islam Karimov exactly what he wants: dwindling media coverage and a chance to slip off the international agenda.

27.06.2005 With violence in Afghanistan on the rise, the senior United Nations envoy to the country is calling for cooperation between the authorities, international forces and Pakistan's Government to stem the bloodshed and provide hope for lasting stability.

27.06.2005 Tehran mayor and president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Sunday to spread Iran's oil money to the poor, end corruption, return to the roots of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and push Iran's nuclear-energy plans. He's been called Iran's Robin Hood by some, but critics portend a Talibanesque regime now that hard-line conservatives hold power throughout the government.

22.06.2005 Despite reports detailing how Uzbek troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in the city of Andijan, the U.S. blocked NATO's call for an investigation into the massacre. This latest move is yet another reminder of the insincerity behind the Administration's claims of supporting democracy in the Islamic world and former Soviet Union, says professor and author Stephen Zunes.

22.06.2005 The United Nations refugee agency and the Government of Pakistan are stepping up efforts to consolidate Afghan refugee camps in the country, announcing that two camps in Balochistan province will close in addition to those in the troubled tribal belt already scheduled for closure.

22.06.2005 Uzbekistan's reputation for the use of torture will be reinforced by reports emerging of the treatment of people arrested after the Andijan uprising on May 23. Evidence of forced confessions will add to concern about the fate of refugees seeking protection in Kyrgyzstan.

20.06.2005 Bride kidnapping is so prevalent in Kyrgyzstan that nearly half of ethnic Kyrgyz women are married this way. Kidnapped and often raped, women are held until they consent to marry their captor. Often overlooked by authorities, some officials are calling for attention to be paid--by including the practice under future anti-trafficking legislation.

17.06.2005 A public meeting held in Yerevan may have been the last chance for environmentalists to persuade the Armenian government to abandon plans to build a road through one of the country’s few surviving forests. Onnik Krikorian reports that the NGO community is united in its opposition.

17.06.2005 A public meeting due to be held in Yerevan today may be the last chance for environmentalists to persuade the Armenian government to abandon plans to build a road through one of the country’s few surviving forests. OneWorld Volunteer Editor Onnik Krikorian reports that the NGO community is united in its opposition.

17.06.2005 Iran's presidential elections begin Friday, and with more candidates than ever, a quick win by early frontrunner Rafsanjani is far from a sure bet. Although the elections have faced domestic setbacks and international criticism, the main issue now is voter turn-out: if turn-out is high, the regime will see it as proof of their continued legitimacy at home.

16.06.2005 Care is working on empowering girls in Afghanistan by providing them an education. Here is one such success story in which Farzana, a 28-year old, the principal of Sha Shaheed School, is providing education exclusively to girls who missed out on education during the Taliban rule.

15.06.2005 President Putin told Tony Blair that the G8 should consider countries of the former Soviet Union just as much in need as Africa. Unconcerned for diplomatic niceties, Kazakstan is introducing laws to curtail foreign NGOs, apparently convinced that recent revolutions in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine were financed by global pro-democracy organisations.

15.06.2005 Oxfam America and ACTED, which is a French organisation, are helping Afghan potters improve their income as well improve the quality of their ceramics through training and by setting up an economic interest group.

13.06.2005 Clementina Cantoni, an Italian who has worked in Afghanistan for several years to improve the plight of the country's women, was released late last week after more than three weeks in captivity.

08.06.2005 The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) has upset the Uzbek authorities by filing vital eyewitness accounts of the recent massacre in Andijan together with credible estimates of the death toll. Now one of the IWPR journalists has been arrested.

07.06.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Jun 7 (OneWorld) - The Uzbek government's lethal crackdown against protesters last month amounted to a ''massacre'' that the leadership is trying to cover up, a leading human rights watchdog said Tuesday.

07.06.2005 A musician plays his rabab, a guitar-like instrument, while singing a folk song at a Pashtun gathering in Islamabad. Soon many in the audience - including clerics - tie up their turbans and start dancing to the beat of dholak drums. The lure of the music, for that moment, offers a rare outlet for self-expression in a society where frivolity is frowned upon.

06.06.2005 Uzbekistan is known for its suppression of religious and political freedoms and its President Karimov's actions are grimly reminiscent of Saddam Hussein, says Global Exchange's Ted Lewis, yet the country has become a close U.S. ally since September 11. Is this relationship really in our national interest?

02.06.2005 After two decades of conflict and with much of the country’s population living in remote areas, the majority of Afghanis do not have access to health care. Aid workers and non-governmental organizations are teaming up to improve health care in rural regions of the country.