mining

South Asia

Pakistan: Baloch activist gets life sentence

UN experts condemned the sentencing of Pakistani human rights defender Mahrang Baloch to two terms of life imprisonment by a court in Quetta, describing it as a “travesty” of justice and misuse of counter-terrorism laws. Mahrang Baloch is a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which advocates for the rights of the Baloch community in Pakistan. She was convicted alongside another BYC member for the death of a Frontier Corps officer during a July 2024 protest in Gwadar condemning discrimination, enforced disappearances, and unlawful appropriation of local communities’ lands for mining and foreign investment projects. (Photo: The Baloch Circle)

Greater Middle East

Turkish ecological defender faces prison

Amnesty International condemned the conviction in Turkey of environmental activist Esra Işık. The activist was convicted of “resisting a public official to prevent performance of duty” and “insulting a public official,” and sentenced to two years and one month in prison. Işık was detained in March following participation in demonstrations against an extraordinary “urgent” land expropriation decision by the Turkish government, in which over 600 parcels in the Akbelen Forest area were to be seized for expansion of a coal mine. (Photo: Cumhuriyet)

Iran

Iran: deadly repression in Baluchistan

Iranian security forces violently dispersed protesters in Pashmouki village, Kerman province, within the greater Baluchistan region. Six ethnic Baloch residents, including three women, were detained, and several injured. The protest took place outside a chromite mine in the village, which has been a source of great contention. Iran’s government has been cracking down on unlicensed mines in the region, but residents say they gain no economic benefit from the licensed ones, while they are left to deal with the environmental impacts. Since the mass protests in Iran earlier this year, the Baluchistan region has been flooded with Revolutionary Guard troops. Two Baloch youths in the region were killed by Revolutionary Guards in unclear circumstances within days of the Pashmouki violence. (Map: PCL)

Planet Watch

Reversal for hard right in Hungary; Peru in the balance

The defeat of Hungary’s quasi-dictator Viktor Orbán in the recent elections has heartened progressive forces around the world—despite the fact that the victorious Péter Magyar is a creature of the center-right. A more stark contest is emerging in Peru, where the right-wing authoritarian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori faces a run-off with a contender from the populist left, Roberto Sánchez, who has broad support from the traditionally excluded campesinos of the country’s Andean interior. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Andes

Colombia: UN experts welcome anti-mercenary law

UN experts welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s ratification of the 1989 International Convention against Recruitment, Use, Financing & Training of Mercenaries. The experts praised the signing of what amounts to a new anti-mercenary legislative package, calling it an essential step toward protecting human rights and upholding international legal obligations. Colombia has experienced a decades-long armed conflict that began with the formation of guerrilla groups, notably the FARC and the ELN. Paramilitary groups later emerged to fight the guerrillas. Following a landmark peace agreement with the FARC in 2016 and ongoing negotiations with the ELN that began in 2018, violence levels have been reduced. But the protracted conflict has led to a profusion of armed actors and fueled the growth of private military and security companies (PMSCs). (Photo: Contagio Radio)

Africa

US sanctions Rwanda military

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) and four of its top military officials over their support, training, and fighting alongside M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The RDF have reportedly provided direct operational support to the M23 and its affiliates by introducing advanced military equipment to eastern DRC, including GPS jamming systems, air defense equipment, and drones. According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the US seeks the immediate withdrawal of RDF troops, weapons and equipment. (Photo: US Air Force via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

South Africa deploys military against gangs, illegal mining

During the annual State of the Nation address, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of military troops to support police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in the provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape. South Africa has for years struggled with gang violence and illegal mining, which are now said to threaten the country’s stability. The government has intensified efforts to combat the surge in violence by implementing targeted strategies and measures, such as creating specialized police units, but these have proved ineffectual. (Photo: Wesley Nitsckie via Wikipedia)

North America

British Columbia: protest call to amend Indigenous rights act

The Law Society of British Columbia warned that the provincial government’s intention to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) may erode judicial independence and improperly constrain the power of the courts. The proposed amendment would limit the role of the judiciary in matters related to DRIPA’s implementation, and follows two landmark court rulings upholding Aboriginal rights and title last year. The BC Supreme Court held in August that the Cowichan Tribes have established Aboriginal title in the city of Richmond, meaning that the province is obliged under the DRIPA to “reconcile” fee simple interests in the city with tribal authorities. In December, the BC Court of Appeal held that the provincial mineral tenure system—allowing registration of mineral rights online without notifying or consulting the Gitxaała and Ehattesaht nations—is impermissible under the DRIPA, which commits the province to upholding principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Amazon

Cross-border crackdown on Amazon gold mining

Police and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon. Backed by Interpol, the European Union, and Dutch police specializing in environmental crime, “Operation Guyana Shield” involved over 24,500 checks on people and vehicles across remote border areas. Officers seized large quantities of cash, unprocessed gold, and mercury, as well as firearms, drugs and mining equipment. Authorities said organized crime networks behind these operations are linked to a major Guyanese gold exporting firm. The operation signals a new enforcement posture, marked by cross-border collaboration to disrupt transnational networks that evade jurisdictional boundaries and exploit enforcement gaps across the Amazon border region. (Photo: IBAMA via Flickr)

Planet Watch

Today Greenland, tomorrow the world

Trump’s Greenland annexation drive is only secondarily about the strategic minerals, but fundamentally driven by a geostrategic design to divide the planet with Putin. Even if his belated and equivocal disavowal of military force at the Davos summit is to be taken as real, the threat has likely achieved its intended effect—dividing and paralyzing NATO, so as to facilitate Putin’s military ambitions in Europe, even beyond Ukraine Also at Davos, Trump officially inaugurated his “Board of Peace,” seen as parallel body to the United Nations that can eventually displace it—dominated by Trump and Putin, in league with the world’s other authoritarians. In the Greenland gambit, the territory itself is a mere pawn in the drive to establish a Fascist World Order. In Episode 314 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinbergcalls for centering indigenous Inuit voices on the future of Greenland, and universal repudiation of annexationist designs. (Image: TruthSocial)

Planet Watch

Climate change drives Trump’s Greenland gambit

European troops landed in Greenland amid tense talks between the country’s autonomous government, officials from Denmark, and the United States. President Trump has continued to insist the two-million-square-kilometer Arctic island should belong to the United States—despite pre-existing security agreements and a (previously) strong relationship with Denmark that grants the US significant military access to the territory. Beyond Trump’s ego, there are reasons related to climate change that explain why Greenland is becoming of political interest. The territory’s strategic location has become even more so in recent years as the Greenland ice sheet and surrounding sea ice have retreated significantly: The ice sheet lost 105 billion tonnes in 2024-25, according to scientists. This has disastrous implications—ice helps cool the planet, and its melt will lead to rising seas. But it also allows ships and submarines more freedom of movement, making military planners nervous. (Photo: Pixabay)

The Amazon

Ecuador: crackdown on indigenous, environmental groups

Ecuador’s financial crimes agency froze the bank accounts of several indigenous and environmental groups in an apparent effort to silence protests, Human Rights Watch said. The government’s Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE) cited secret intelligence reports to justify the freezing of the funds. Among the groups affected is the indigenous organization Alianza Ceibo, representing the Waorani, Siekopai, A’i Cofán and Siona peoples, which has defended the economic, social, cultural and collective rights of these peoples for 10 years. Also targeted are groups protesting the decision to approve a mining project in the southern province of Azuay which threatens the fragile ecosystem in the region. (Photo: Alianza Ceibo)