[COMMENTARY] A Second Look at Korea’s “Lifting” of its HIV Travel Ban

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By Ken Oh

Can rules be changed when they aren’t changed?
What may appear to be a purely metaphysical question is creating some
real-world confusion in the Republic of Korea.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently applauded South Korea’s announced lifting
of its entry ban on HIV-positive foreigners. UNAIDS executive director
Michel Sidibe also extolled the move, effective January 1, as an important step
in the effort to realize the global freedom of movement for people living with
HIV.  But the reality appears to be more
complex.

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[REPORT] Impressions of the China Sex Workers’ Network Training in Qingdao

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中国性工作者网络青岛培训有感

By Zhang Lan and Li Man

From January 14-16,
2010, the Chinese Sex Workers’ Network held its second national training
workshop for sex work NGOs in Qingdao. The purpose was to help build the
capacity of staff at sex work NGOs, as well as targeted training for staff on
project management, institution building, project expansion, and so on.

2010年1月14日—16日，中国性工作者网络在青岛举行了全国性工作者机构的第二次培训，这是对机构工作人员的能力建设，同时也有针对性的培训工作人员一些关于项目管理/机构建设/拓展项目/法律问题等等。

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[COMMENTARY] End Overcrowding in Indonesian Prisons

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By Ricky Gunawan

 

Up through 2009, Indonesia suffered a tremendous blow from the so-called
“judicial mafia”, the corrupt network that controls the criminal justice
system. Every sector of Indonesia’s legal system has been paralyzed by this
judicial mafia. It is made up of middlemen who, for a fee, can broker deals
between police, prosecutors and judges. In a late response to this dismal
situation, in late 2009 President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono established a task force to “eradicate the
judicial mafia in the first 100 days” of his administration.

 

Last week, the task force conducted a surprise visit to Pondok Bambu
Detention Facility, Jakarta. This visit revealed shocking – yet, to those in
the know, all too predictable — findings. Arthalyta Suryani, a high-class
criminal convicted of bribery, is imprisoned
in luxurious conditions. Her “cell” is an 8×8 meter room with a refrigerator,
flat TV with home theatre, air conditioner, and other facilities such as dining
tables, maids and a Blackberry.

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[REPORT] “I Don’t Have the Money to Pay for a Hospital, So I Give Birth at Home.”

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by Ami Evangelista Swanepoel

Earlier this week we returned to an area in Santa Lourdes called Purok Matahimik, which means “quiet place”. It is also known as “Pulang Lupa” or red earth because of the color of the soil, or simply known as “Dumpsite” because of the community’s proximity to the Puerto Princesa landfill. This community is a top runner for where we might begin our services as it is quite isolated and very poor, with high numbers of malnourished children.

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[RESOURCE] 10 Ways to Protect Against Hackers

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By Glenn D. Tiffert

Google’s recent revelation that its servers have been attacked by hackers, and that Chinese, US and European human rights activists have been affected, has drawn more attention to internet security. But in fact, any computer plugged into the internet may be probed by automated agents dozens-if not thousands-of times a day.  These agents check a long list of documented and undocumented vulnerabilities, looking for any that exist in your system.  The agents are indiscriminate. 

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