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Page 8-The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, April 13,1993
Azerbaijani refugees
flee Armenian attack
I
DASHKESAN, Azerbaijan (AP) -
A new refugee tragedy may be unfold-
ing in the snowy mountain ranges of
this former Soviet republic.
Relief officials and refugees fear
that more than 1,000 Azerbaijani civil-
ians fleeing Armenian attacks may have
been trapped in bitter winter conditions.
Already, some survivors have spo-
ken of leaving behind scores of women,
children and elderly people who were
toocoldandexhausted tocontinuea2l-
mile trek over the Dashkesan Mountain
range to safety. Some said they saw
dead bodies along the route.
As fighting intensified late lastmonth
between Armenia and Azerbaijan, tens
of thousands of Azerbaijanis fled the
western Kelbajar region, evacuated by
helicopters and trucks, or hiking across
steep, snowy mountains.
Officials and U.N. relief workers
said about 5,000 people made it across
the Dashkesan range to the north of
Kelbajar. But only three people arrived
on April 9, and the trickle has stopped
since then, they said Sunday.
"We doubt any more people will
arrive," said Sahib Sadiqov, aphysician
in charge of a relief center in this town
at the foot of the mountains 30 miles
north of Kelbajar.
"A few days ago, 32 people arrived
carrying two dead bodies with them,"
Sadigov said. "There has been heavy
snowfall in the last days. We will only
know after the snow melts how many
people have died and were covered."
He said 16 bodies, including the two
carried over the mountains, had been
retrieved so far, leaving 1,500 people
unaccounted for. He basedhis calcula-
tions on survivors' accounts.
Sadai Nazarov, the head of arefugee
center in the neighboring town of
iyandzha, said 1,200 people may be
irapped behind Armenian lines.
There has been noindependent con-
firmation on the number of casualties or
refugees. International observers say
they have been unable to obtain con-
crete information.
"The United Nations is struggling to
come up with figures, said Paolo
Lembo, deputy U.N. representative in
'The United Nations is
struggling to come up
with figures. It's a bit
premature to figure out
casualties. The fate of
hundreds is still
unknown, but they may
not necessarily have
died.'
-Paolo Lembo
deputy U.N. representative
the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. "It's a bit
premature to figure out casualties. The
fate of hundreds is still unknown, but
they may not necessarily have died."
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been
fighting for five years over the territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mostly Arme-
nian enclave inside Azerbaijan. At least
3,000 people have been killed, and tens
of thousands have been left homeless.
Officials from the United Nations
and the International Committee of the
Red Cross said yesterday they were
awaiting permission from Armenia to
enter Kelbajar to assess the situation.
The fall of Kelbajar gives Armenia a
second corridor and supply route into
Nagorno-Karabakh.
In a small room at Dashkesan Hos-
pital, six middle-aged men in heavy
coats huddled around hot soup served
out of a bucket. They and some of their
family members had arrived in early
April after a six-day walk from Kelbajar.
Shaheen Humetov, a refugee from
the Kelbajar region, said about 150
people died on the journey.
"About 200 of us made our way up
to Dashkesan Mountain. But six days
later, only 50 of us were alive," Humetov
said. "We froze. Even the caves were
filled with snow."
A rescue team of 20 had lost four
men in avalanches onApril6, according
to the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees.
"According to accounts by displaced
persons, a quarter of the people are not
making it over the mountains," said
Billy Nordstrom of agency.
ANASTASIA BANICKV/Daly
Hot digg ity dog!I
Server Cathy gives a hot dog to Ann Arbor resident Mike Kordek (left) near the Medical Center.
6 ie i hio p
urs ten hoste
Schools
may add
abstinence
to sex ed.
LANSING (A) - Legislation in-
troduced in the state Senate would man-
date that Michigan schools teaching sex
education tell teens to repress their pas-
sions.
The goal is to urge kids, while in-
structing them about sexually transmit-
ted disease and other health issues, to
delay their sexual experiences.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Gilbert
DiNello (R-Mount Clemens). It would
require schools to "include the teachin
of abstinence from sex as a responsible
method for restriction and prevention of
these diseases and as apositive lifestyle
for unmarried young people."
"The schools, the kids, the parents,
they all have to be involved," DiNello
said last week, saying the bill promotes
"family values."
The bill was introduced March30 as
part of a package of legislation.
Michigan's curriculum has beeri
criticized as anti-family by some par-
ents and organizations.
They argue the course degrades the
role of parents and fails to emphasize
what laws and parents say is right re-
garding drugs, sex and alcohol. The
critics contend those aspects are ne-
glected in favor of teaching children
how to make their own decisions.
"These bills should help make giant
strides toward bringing balance back in
public education in this state," DiNello
said.
The bills were sent to the Senate
Education Committee. DiNello said he
would ask they be discussed as soon as
possible.
Thebill urging the teaching of sexual
abstinence got an initial favorable reac-
tion.
'The exciting thing about the absti-
nence approach to sex education is that
itworks," said Randall Hekman, execu-
tive director of the Michigan Family
Forum.
"Numerous statistical studies have
shown that school districts using a true
abstinence approach in sex education
have seen decreased teen pregnancy
and abortion rates, a result that saves
lives and money as well."
Justin King, executive director for
the Michigan Association of School
Boards, said he supports the abstinence
bill despite his criticism of DiNello's
position on the current curriculum.
"My personal reaction is very posi
tive," he said. "Tere's nothing wrong
with that. It seems like that makes some
sense."
0
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Part
of Ohio's only maximum security prison
remained under siege yesterday after
hundreds of prisoners rioted, killing six
inmates and taking eight guards hos-
tage.
Negotiators tried to work out a deal
with some of the state's most dangerous
prisoners, asking them to free one hos-
tage in exchange for a chance to outline
their demands to the media.
About45O prisoners were barricaded
inside one cellblock of the prison, lo-
cated about 70 miles south of Columbus
in south-central Ohio.
Prison officials said a scuffle among
a few prisoners escalated into a riot
Sunday afternoon.
Guards were called to break up the
apparent fight, which involved a few
prisoners. "That's when several hos-
tages were taken. Butanumber of offic-
ers also were able to break away from
that situation," said Reginald Wilkinson,
director of the Department of Rehabili-
tation and Correction at a news confer-
ence in Columbus. He wouldn't elabo-
rate.
Guards were called to break up the
apparent fight, which involved a few
prisoners. "That's when several hos-
tages were taken. Butanumberof offic-
ers also were able to break away from
that situation," Wilkinson said atanews
conference in Columbus. He wouldn't
elaborate.
Ten guards and eight inmates were
injured.
Negotiations were under way yes-
terday, said Sharron Kornegay, a spokes-
person for the Ohio Department of Re-
habilitation and Correction.
The prisoners "are tired and hungry.
... We are at a very sensitive stage," she
told reporters outside the 69-acre prison.
Authorities said the eight hostage
were alive.
Officials cut off electricity and wa-
ter to the cellblock, and refused to de-
liver food. Prisoners were last fed at
about noon Sunday, but they may have
stored some food in their lockers, she
said.
The rest of the prison's 1,819 in-
mates, including death-row inmates,
were confined to cells away from the
affected area.
Ms. Komegay said prisoners who
took 24-inch batons from guards during
the riots killed the six convicts.
"I think it's probably pretty obvious
who killed them," she said. "Our staff
wouldn't do that."
The bodies of five inmates were
released early yesterday. The sixth body
was thrown through a cellblock door.
U U
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