CounterVortex

Africa

Persistent armed attacks in Central African Republic

The UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in the Central African Republic, Aristide Nononsi, expressed concern about the persistent violence in the country, and its impacts on humanitarian needs. Reporting on his visit to the CAR, Nononsi noted that despite the mostly peaceful electoral process that took place in December, the country continues to face instability due to attacks by armed groups against civilians, tensions involving nomadic pastoral communities, and spillover consequences of the conflict in Sudan. (Map via Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection)

South Asia

Naga armed groups drawn into Manipur violence

Amnesty International called for the immediate and unconditional release of civilians being held by armed groups in India’s Manipur state as negotiations over the fate of remaining captives appear to have stalled amid continuing ethnic tensions. The call comes after armed groups from the Kuki and Naga communities reportedly abducted more than 48 civilians following an ambush by unknown armed men that killed three church leaders. The church leaders had recently participated in efforts to facilitate dialogue between Kuki and Naga groups. Kuki leaders blamed the slayings on the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF), a Naga insurgent organization, sparking the inter-communal violence. (Photo: Asia Media Centre)

Palestine

Cyber-attack targets Gaza aid recipients

A cyber-attack targeting the World Food Program has exposed sensitive personal information belonging to some 600,000 households in Gaza, the UN’s food agency has confirmed, in what may be the largest-known breach of humanitarian beneficiary data to date. WFP is investigating a “security-related incident” in which “unauthorized actors” accessed personal information submitted by Palestinians in Gaza, the agency said in a statement sent to aid recipients via Telegram. The exposed information included names, ID and mobile numbers, and location data, the statement said. (Photo: Mohammed Nateel/UNICEF via UN News)

Watching the Shadows

AI: the case for abolition

Trump’s executive order purporting to establish a regulation regime for artificial intelligence actually serves the aim of a government partnership with the AI industry to advance the police state. Ironically, it is AI company Anthropic that calls for a moratorium on development of the technology until its threats are assessed. Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” raises critical points but still echoes the illusion that this technology, now threatening to develop its own powers of “recursive self-improvement,” can be effectively regulated. There are encouraging signs of worker pushback against replacement by AI, and an emerging anarchist critique of the technology. Of course the Trump regime is targeting critics for repression as “anti-tech extremists.” In Episode 331 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg again calls for total abolition of AI, citing unacceptable threats to humanity on ecological, epistemological and eschatological grounds. (Image: Pixabay via Wikimedia Commons)

Southern Cone

Brazil: demand justice 20 years after ‘Crimes of May’

UN human rights experts called on Brazil to ensure full justice, accountability and reparations for victims and families affected by the 2006 “Crimes of May.” They warned that continued impunity worsens the suffering of victims and perpetuates systemic racism and police violence. The 2006 violence began when the criminal organization Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) launched coordinated prison rebellions and attacks against public officials after authorities transferred hundreds of suspected gang members to maximum-security prisons. Police and death squads carried out a retaliatory campaign that resulted in more than 500 deaths and at least four “enforced disappearances.” (Photo: Conectas)

East Asia

China bans families from mourning Tiananmen victims

Amnesty International condemned China for banning family members from visiting the resting places of people who perished in the 1989 Tiananmen Square repression. This is the first time in 37 years that the Chinese authorities have banned the visit. According to the Tiananmen Mothers group, the authorities notified family members of people who lost their lives in the 1989 massacre that they cannot travel to Beijing’s Wan’an Cemetery or conduct any commemoration in the cemetery. (Photo: Hong Kong Alliance via Amnesty International)

Central America

Nicaragua: indigenous leader dies in state custody

International human rights organizations released statements decrying the death of indigenous leader, politician and activist Brooklyn Rivera after years in Nicaraguan state custody. His passing came days after the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) called for Rivera’s immediate release and urgent medical attention. WOLA raised concerns over his condition following the release of a statement and photographs by the Nicaraguan government to provide proof of life, as requested by UN experts. Rivera was a renowned leader of the Miskito indigenous people who played a central role in winning pledges of regional autonomy in peace negotiations with the Sandinista government after a period of armed insurgency in the 1980s. (Photo: Brooklyn Rivera family via Amnesty International)

Europe

Greco-Albanians protest Trump-linked development scheme

Protesters clashed with security forces at the site of a planned luxury resort on Albania’s Adriatic coast linked to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the daughter and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump. The site, at Zvërnec, is one of the last nearly pristine coastal zones in the entire Mediterranean, and is located within Albania’s southern Greek-speaking region. The project has raised serious concerns among local ethnic Greek residents over the loss of their traditional lands. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes

Peru: ‘Mass of Reparation’ for abuses of Catholic society

A delegation from the Vatican—including cardinals and bishops—joined representatives of the Catholic Church in Peru to kneel before local campesinos and ask their forgiveness at a “Mass of Reparation” held at the parish of San Juan Bautista in Catacaos, Piura region. A Vatican investigation found that the Tallán indigenous communities of the parish for over a decade suffered land expropriation, physical threats and other abuses at the hands of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. The lay society, better known as “Sodalicio,” was among the most active Catholic movements in Latin America from the early 1970s until it was suppressed by order of Pope Francis in April 2025. (Photo: Vatican News)

Planet Watch

Australia admits UN expert in LNG site challenge

The Federal Court of Australia has admitted a UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment as an intervenor in a judicial review concerning a liquefied natural gas (LNG) operation site. The admission marks the first time a national court has allowed a UN environmental expert to advise on international environmental law. Special Rapporteur Astrid Puentes Riaño is to intervene in light of the recent UN General Assembly resolution enshrining the duty of member states to protect the global climate system by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Photo: UNESCO)

Europe

Russia unlawfully seizes civilian property in Ukraine

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that Russian authorities are unlawfully seizing civilian property belonging to Ukrainians in occupied areas of the country, in violation of international law. HRW analyzed some 8,000 cases involving property seizures filed in 25 courts in occupied areas, with court records showing “consistent disregard of evidence of ownership and efforts by owners to assert their rights.” The seizure of property has affected millions of displaced Ukrainians or those who refuse to re-register their properties under Russian law, as they are stripped of shelter, income, or the means to sustain their lives. (Map: PCL)

North America

Canada: setback for Aboriginal title on private lands

The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal by the six Wolastoqey communities of New Brunswick seeking to assert Aboriginal title over private lands. The refusal to hear the appeal makes final a lower court’s decision, holding that the Wolastoqey Nation cannot seek declarations of Aboriginal title over privately-owned lands, but may seek damages against the government for unjustified infringement of Aboriginal title. In response to the refusal, the Wolastoqey Nation maintained that it does not remove the government’s duty to First Nations. Chief Patricia Bernard of Madawaska said: “Our ancestors never surrendered our lands and waters… Our title has not been extinguished… The fight for our homeland will continue.” (Map of traditional Wabanaki Confederacy lands: Wikimedia Commons)