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The Shots Heard Around the World

Friday, April 4, 2014
New shots are jeopardizing humanity’s battle to eradicate polio, and they don't include syringes or vaccines. Rather, they’re the gunshots of Islamic terrorists. The fight to eliminate polio is now imperiled, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), by “insecurity, targeted attacks on health workers and/or a ban by local authorities on polio immunization,” and violence in the Middle East. In a March 2014 report, the organization warned that the virus, which existed in only three countries at the dawn of 2012, is now returning to places from which it had been eradicated, and “risk of further international spread remains high, particularly in central Africa (especially from Cameroon), the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa.”

Protection of NGOs, Schools and Health Centers

Friday, April 4, 2014
ACBAR wishes officially to express its disapproval of any attack, intimidation, violence or threats against NGOs working in Afghanistan. We appeal to all parties to the Afghan conflict to respect the neutrality of NGOs and the work they do with the aim of helping people of Afghanistan without implication of the ongoing conflict. NGOs – both local and international – play a critical role in providing relief and development aid to needy people in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan; often in areas were other services providers have limited or no access.

Attack on Polio Team: Female Worker Killed in Bannu

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
A female polio worker was gunned down by two armed men on a motorcycle in the cantonment area of Bannu on Monday. The shooting occurred at around 8:30 in the morning, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanaullah Khan Marwat. Marwat identified the victim as Fehmida Yasmeen, wife of Sattar Shah, a resident of Sokari Zabita Khan. Yasmeen was shot dead while she was going to a market near Abi Talha Masjid in Bannu cantonment.

Impunity and Lack of Transparency Fuel Assault on Medics in Bahrain

Sunday, March 16, 2014
Three years ago today, Bahraini security forces entered Salmaniya Medical Complex - the largest public hospital in Bahrain. In a flagrant violation of the right to health, security forces interfered with medical services and refused entry to the injured and sick. Over the next few months, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) documented the government's systematic attacks on medics, including those who had offered help to peaceful anti-government protestors.

Health Crisis in Rakhine State

Sunday, March 2, 2014
While the news that Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) will be allowed to continue their work in most of Burma is certainly welcome, the decision by the Burmese government to shut down MSF’s operations in Rakhine state continues a trend of denying rights to the Muslim population who lives there. The lack of medical care puts lives at risk, but the international community and media continue to focus primarily on the potential market that is Burma.

PHR Files Legal Brief in Support of Turkish Medical Association

Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) submitted an amicus brief today in support of members of the Turkish Medical Association (TMA) who will face trial for recruiting and organizing urgent medical care for protesters injured during the Gezi Park demonstrations that began in May 2013. The Turkish Ministry of Health brought a court suit against the governing and disciplinary boards of the TMA’s Ankara Chamber of Medicine on January 27, 2014, requesting their removal from office for providing care to protesters injured during the demonstrations.

Pakistan Polio Vaccinator's Murder by Militants Raises Health Workers' Fears

Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The unusual night-time kidnapping and brutal murder of a female polio vaccinator in the troubled Pakistani city of Peshawar has heightened fears among health workers struggling to stamp out the virus in the face of violent opposition from militant groups. The body of Salma Farooqi, a 30-year-old who had been involved for years in Peshawar’s battle against polio, was recovered from a field 4km (2.5 miles) from her home on Monday, a day after armed men stormed her house, tied up family members and took her away.

Targeted for Doing Their Job: Doctors in Syria Forced to Flee

Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Mohammed is one of 15,000 Syrian doctors who was forced out of his country, unable to continue treating the wounded in a bloody conflict that forced the United Nations to stop counting the dead. In late 2012, he was working as a field doctor in rural Damascus when he became the target of a brutal crackdown on those providing medical assistance to the injured in opposition-held areas.

Council Holds Panel Discussion on Importance of Promotion and Protection of Civil Society Space

Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held a panel discussion on the importance of the promotion and protection of civil society space. The discussion included a video message from Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, and a statement from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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