Afghan opium production hits new record high
The UN’s latest Afghanistan Opium Survey finds that the country produced record levels of poppy in 2013—despite $7 billion in US eradication efforts.
The UN’s latest Afghanistan Opium Survey finds that the country produced record levels of poppy in 2013—despite $7 billion in US eradication efforts.
The attorney for two Algerian detainees being held in Guantánamo Bay said the two will oppose their release back to Algeria, citing fear of torture and persecution there.
The feared Colombian National Police anti-riot force was mobilized to evict an encampment of campesinos who had been displaced from their homes by political violence.
Two gunmen assassinated Juan Álvaro Pai, traditional governor of the endangered Awá indigenous people, in an incursion into their reserve in Colombia’s Nariño department.
Indigenous leaders in Ecuador's rainforest accuse the army of forging evidence in the death of a Shuar man during an operation against outlaw gold-miners.
The UN human rights office says a "profound change" is needed in how Colombia's National Police force, run by the Defense Ministry, handles protests, after concluding that law enforcement agents were responsible for at least 28 deaths during anti-government demonstrations earlier this year. A report by the UN body's Colombia representative said the response to the widespread protests involved "unnecessary or disproportionate force." Aside from murder, police forces were accused of arbitrary detentions and sexual violence against civilians. The unrest began in reaction to a tax reform bill—that was later ditched—but was fuelled by anger over broader economic and social inequalities. Amnesty International recently reported that the number of eye injuries (more than 100) sustained by protesters was an "indication of intentionality" by the police force. (Photo: WikiMedia)