The $100 million that Bill Gates' philanthropy will add to the battle against HIV and AIDS in India is a welcome expression of concern for what Gates rightly portrays as one of the worst epidemics in the world. But the Gates Foundation's generous support may be undone by factors that neither the government of India nor its donors are addressing: the voicelessness of women and increasing violence against those most affected by the epidemic.
"The Vietnamese government continues to arrest, imprison and harass people who are simply advocating democratic reforms and government accountability," said Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. "This sort of repression has got to stop."
After almost twenty-five years of brutal occupation, an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 East Timorese civilians lost their lives in the months before, and days immediately after, the voting. Approximately 500,000 people were forced from their homes or fled to seek refuge.1