Watchdog

On this week's show, the Majlis podcast returns to Uzbekistan’s cotton fields.

The Majlis has looked at the forced labor campaign in Central Asia's cotton fields before, but on June 27, Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights released a report drawing attention to World Bank loans for Uzbekistan’s agricultural programs that use forced labor.

Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL's media relations manager, moderated a discussion on the topic.

Jessica Evans, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, took part. Also participating was Allison Gill, an associate at the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights. And Kirill Buketov, international officer at the International Union of Food and Agriculture Workers, joined the discussion. And I had a couple of things to say, too.

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Majlis Podcast: World Bank Linked To Forced Labor In Uzbekistan

by RFE/RL

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Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.

A 12-year-old Pakistani girl was killed by her family after she eloped with a boy, villagers and officials in the northwestern tribal district of Khyber say.

Local official Niaz Muhammad told RFE/RL on June 30 that the girl, named Naghma, left her house in Kadey village on June 23 before being stopped by security officials.

Muhammad said Naghma was handed over to her family, which promised she wouldn’t be harmed.

But the official said the girl was killed -- "probably" on June 27 -- in what he described as an "honor killing" over perceived damage to the family's honor.

A local resident said Naghma was shot dead.

Muhammad said the alleged killers -- one of Naghma’s uncles and his son -- were detained along with two members of the boy’s family.

Hundreds of "honor killings" are reported in Pakistan every year..