Ron Synovitz is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
Preliminary official results from the 25 September parliamentary elections in Poland show two center-right political parties easily defeating the leftists in the governing Democratic Left Alliance. Early returns suggest it is the biggest victory for the heirs of the Solidarity movement in any of Poland's five elections since the collapse of communism in 1989. Experts say the Law and Justice party and its pro-business allies in the Civic Platform are likely to control more than 300 seats in the 460-member lower house of parliament. But divisions between the two parties could make for tough coalition talks. RFE/RL looks at how the results are expected to influence Poland's policies on EU integration, as well as relations with Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
Emma Bonino The European Union’s election observation mission in Afghanistan has released its preliminary report on the 18 September parliamentary vote. It says election day was “generally well-administered” and largely peaceful. But the EU team also observed serious shortcomings during the two-month campaign and on the day of voting. RFE/RL spoke with Emma Bonino, the head of the monitoring team, about the positive developments and some of the serious concerns.
Richard Atwood of JEMB with ballot to be used in Zabul Province The October 2004 presidential election in Afghanistan was marred by controversy over the indelible ink meant to mark voters’ fingers and prevent them from voting more than once. In many cases, the ink was easily rubbed off -- leading some to question the integrity of the results. But the organizers of the 18 September parliamentary elections say they have resolved the problem. Extra security measures also have been put into place to prevent tampering with ballot boxes during the weeks after the vote when they will be transported to counting centers across the country.
Supporters of a female candidate look over her leaflets Afghan voters go to polling stations on Sunday (18 September) to choose their first parliament in more than three decades. When they do, they will be choosing candidates identified on ballot papers not only by their names but also by a complicated system of symbols. The symbols are necessary because a large majority of Afghanistan’s voters are illiterate.
There are worries that leaving disqualified candidates on the ballots could spark unrest Afghanistan's electoral watchdog has disqualified a further 28 candidates from parliamentary elections on 18 September. A total of 45 candidates have now been barred. Thirty-two were disqualified for maintaining links to armed militia groups. The others, including three women barred yesterday, were disqualified for keeping local government jobs in violation of election rules. But the disqualifications do not include high-profile warlords accused of human rights abuses. Moreover, the disqualified candidates will still appear on ballots when voters go to the polls, because the ballots have already been printed and are being distributed to thousands of polling stations across the country.
Electoral official hanging sanctioned campaign posters ahead of this month's vote Kabul, 12 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission today disqualified 28 more candidates from competing in Afghanistan’s national and provincial parliamentary elections, due to take place on 18 September. The new disqualifications bring to 45 the number of candidates barred from the UN-backed vote. Rights groups have expressed concern that figures implicated in major rights abuses are being allowed to stand in the elections. Among those rights groups is Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has been monitoring the election campaign for the past two months in provinces across the country. RFE/RL spoke with Sam Zia Zarifi -- the leading researcher in Afghanistan for HRW -- about candidate disqualifications and other election issues. The New York-based nongovernmental organization will release a report on the findings of its investigators on 15 September.
Afghan women registering to vote (file photo) Political violence continues in Afghanistan just a week before parliamentary elections. The U.S. military says insurgents may try to undermine the vote with attacks during the next week. Despite the violence, most candidates continue to campaign ahead of the 18 September vote.
General Jones addresses troops during his visit The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has completed the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops to support Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary elections. With a total of 11,000 troops across the country, ISAF is now larger and more widely deployed than it has ever been during nearly four years of UN-backed political reforms known as the Bonn Process. In addition, NATO's top commander says the alliance is now planning for an expanded role that would merge UN-mandated security assistance with U.S.-led combat operations.
Census takers interview Afghan refugees earlier this year in Lahore, Pakistan Pakistan has rejected a request from Kabul to delay the closure of Afghan refugee camps within Pakistan's tribal areas. Islamabad says the closures are necessary to eliminate safe havens for militants crossing the border to and from southeastern Afghanistan. Afghan officials accuse Pakistan's security forces of ignoring such cross-border infiltrations amid increasing militant violence ahead of September's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan. Pakistan's decision means the refugees have until the end of August to either sign up for voluntary repatriation or move to other refugee camps in Pakistan.
A policeman arrests a prostitute in Russia in 2001 UNESCO, the UN's cultural organization, has proclaimed 23 August as International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. But despite laws against slavery in all of the world's countries, modern-day slavery continues to thrive in illegal underground forms. In the second of a two-part series, RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz examines how the latest wave of sex-slave trafficking preys upon Eastern European women to fuel the global sex trade.
A child works at a carpet loom in Lahore, Pakistan UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, has proclaimed 23 August as International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The date commemorates a revolt in 1791 by slaves in what is now Haiti -- an event considered a decisive victory of slaves against their oppressors. But despite laws in all of the world's countries against slavery, the United Nations says the practice continues in illegal underground forms.
An Afghan refugee in a camp near Karachi Citing security concerns, Pakistan's government is evicting some 30,000 Afghans from an impoverished refugee settlement near Islamabad. The name of the illegal settlement, Kacha Abadi, literally means "houses made from mud." Thousands of poor Afghan refugees have gathered there during the past 25 years -- establishing a tent city before eventually building primitive mud-brick shelters on land they do not own. Islamabad's eviction order comes after consultations with both the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Afghan government. The UNHCR says the move is not "forcible repatriation" because refugees can choose to either go voluntarily back to Afghanistan or to official refugee camps further from the capital. But several residents of Kacha Abadi told RFE/RL they fear they will be unable to feed their families if they move away from employment opportunities in Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi.
After a week of intense debate, six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula entered a second week today with no sign of a breakthrough or compromise. The diplomats are trying to agree on a draft statement of principles for future negotiations. Delegation chiefs say the talks are at a critical stage and that much depends on North Korea.
Members of Iraq's Constitution Drafting Committee (file photo) The chairman of Iraq's constitution drafting commission says the group will try to meet its 15 August deadline to complete the draft document rather than ask parliament for an extension. The committee has come under intense pressure from the United States, which fears that delays in the constitutional process could be exploited by insurgents and widen divisions among Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups.
31 July 2005 -- U.S. officials have confirmed that they have been asked to withdraw all U.S. military forces from the Karshi-Khanabad air base in southern Uzbekistan, which has served as a hub for U.S.-led coalition missions in Afghanistan since shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
Those who fled to Kyrgyzstan could face torture if returned to Uzbekistan The UN says witness testimony strongly suggests Uzbekistan's security forces committed serious human rights violations by firing on unarmed demonstrators in the eastern town of Andijon two months ago. The Uzbek government says fewer than 200 were killed when authorities suppressed the Andijon uprising on 13 May. Authorities claim most of those killed were either armed terrorists or security troops fired upon by gunmen. But human rights groups have maintained that up to 750 died and that most were unarmed civilians. A report released yesterday by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour says an international investigation needs to be carried out "promptly" inside Uzbekistan.
U.S. soldiers control traffic outside Kabul today during the manhunt for the missing detainees Hundreds of U.S. and Afghan troops are continuing a hunt for four suspected Arab Al-Qaeda militants who escaped yesterday from the U.S. military detention center at Bagram Air Field north of Kabul. Authorities say they think the escapees are hiding near the airfield -- which is on an open expanse of land on the Shomali Plain. Afghan officials note that local inhabitants are predominantly supporters of the slain anti-Taliban and anti-Al-Qaeda commander Ahmad Shah Masood. They say they do not expect foreign Al-Qaeda fighters to get sympathy from the local population.
11 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The sound of Muslim prayer music echoed through the valley of Srebrenica today as an estimated 50,000 people gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the slaughter of nearly 8,000 Bosnian men and boys there.
30 June, 2005 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. military officials said today they have located the wreckage of a U.S. Chinook helicopter that crashed two days ago in northeastern Afghanistan and expressed fear that all 17 soldiers aboard had perished, although the Pentagon declined to confirm any deaths.
Afghan women registering to vote in October 2004 presidential election Officials in Kabul say tens of thousands of Afghans have been registering to vote in September's parliamentary elections, despite a major upsurge in attacks by Taliban guerrillas in some parts of the country. Those attacks have targeted election workers, UN offices, and voter-registration stations. RFE/RL takes a closer look at how ordinary Afghans are reacting to the violence.
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