1.Pakistan: Girls as young as 3 killed for having illicit relations (December 24, 2002)
A report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that children as young as 3 to 10-years-old were killed under the Kari-a term used for illicit relations, in the Sindh Province of Pakistan in 2002. The centuries-old customary murders, popularly known as Karo-kari (honour-killing) in Sindh have already claimed more than 382 lives during the year. [Dawn Internet Edition, Complete story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#GAYA3KFHIRIP]

2.Afghanistan: Children smile to peacekeeping Santas (December 24, 2002)
British Peacekeepers donned in red Santa hats brought smiles to hundreds of children in Afghanistan's only children's Hospital. An appeal in Britain before Christmas has raised more than eight tons of warm clothes for street children and other disadvantaged kids to help them survive the bitter winter, as well as toys to cheer up the sick. [Afghan News Network, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#CSTPSIA]

3.Bangladesh: 70,000 children and women trafficked in 11 years (December 24, 2002)
Officials from the Bangladesh National Women's Lawyers Association (BNWLA) revealed that 70,000 children and women have been trafficked out of Bangladesh in the 11 years before 2001 and at least 2 lakh women were trafficked out of the country between 1998-1999. [News From Bangladesh, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#70000CWTI11YFB]

4.Kashmir: 3 children killed by Islamic militant gunmen (December 23, 2002)
Islamic gunmen attacked a village in India-administrated Kashmir and shot three sleeping children injuring three adults. This brings  the total number of civilians killed in the past 3 days to 11. [BBC News, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#3CKBIMGIK]

5.Philippines: The New People's Army (NPA) uses children as human shields (December 19, 2002)
In a recent clash between the NPA and the Army, the guerilla's took 'offensive position' behind a hut occupied by civilians including children. The NPA has been waging a 34-year insurgency war which has outlived four governments in the Philippines. Commenting on the incident, military chief Dionisio Santiago said that the NPA was not only known for recruiting minors as fighters and couriers but also used them as human shields during encounters. Children commonly got caught in between cross-fires because of the NPA. [The Manila Times, Complete story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#PNPAUCAHS]

6.Malaysia: Cabinet to decide on death penalty for child rapists (December 19, 2002)
The Malaysian cabinet is mulling over imposing death penalty for child rapists. Though a decision has not been reached as yet, there have been varied opinions within the country regarding the issue. The government has received a lot of letters saying that the death penalty may be too stiff and may hinder collecting information from the victims. [Utusan Online, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#MDPFCR] 

7.Child Soldiers in Asia: UN Report names Governments, Groups (December 18, 2002)
In a 14-page report to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has named 23 insurgent groups and 5 member states that still recruit and use child soldiers. Afghanistan has been named as one of the member states that uses child soldiers. The report also lists some countries involved in conflicts that are not on the security council agenda but use child soldiers. These include Myanmar-considered one of the world's worst offender- along with Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka among other nations. Otunnu, the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict, said that ''for the first time in an official report to the Security Council, those who violate standards for the protection of war-affected children have been specifically named and listed''. ''It is a bold step forward in global efforts to render unacceptable the exploitation and victimisation of children during times of conflict,'' he added. [Inter Press Service News Agency/ BBC News, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#UNROCS]

8.Pakistan: Violence Against Children on the rise (December 18, 2002)
Madadgar, a Joint Venture by UNICEF and Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) revealed that 1,506 cases of physical and sexual abuse against children were reported in the past 11 months in 2002 in Pakistan. Out of the reported 1506 cases, 580 cases of murder against children, boys and girls, 339 cases of rape, 298 cases of sodomy, 193 cases of injury and 60 different cases of severe torture were reported in the prominent national and provincial newspapers. [FACE Weekly Newsletter, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#PVSCOTR]

9.Thailand: Domestic Violence drives children onto the streets (December 18, 2002)
The problem of street children partly stems from an unpleasant atmosphere at home, said the director of the Institute for Child Adolescent Mental Health in a seminar organized on 'How to help Street children'. Many children get fed up with the beatings they get from their parents at home by the age of 10 and take to the streets. Drugs, and sex were a common thing among street children and nearly half of them are infected with HIV/AIDS, said an aid worker while talking about the risks faced by street children in Thailand. [Bangkok Post, Complete Story: http://acr.hrschool.org/LatestNews/latestnewsdecarticles.htm#TDVDC]