The number of civilians killed in the Afghan conflict has risen for the fifth year in a row, according to the annual report of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which documents 3,021 civilian deaths in 2011 compared with 2,790 in 2010.
Indonesia opened the trial of five pro-independence activists on makar (treason) charges in the West Papua capital of Jayapura—amid protests from international human rights groups, who say the five were exercising free expression.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay criticized Iraq for carrying out a large number of executions—including 34 on a single day last month. She cited “lack of transparency in court proceedings” and “concerns about due process and fairness of trials.”
Yemeni protesters gathered outside New York’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel to protest the arrival of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. With repression continuing and the vice president in seclusion, many fear Saleh is continuing to run the country from afar.
At least 200 were killed in the Syrian city of Homs as security forces pursued their campaign to take back opposition-held areas. Meanwhile, authorities tightened their grip of Hama as residents recalled the 1982 massacre of some 20,000 there.
Two people were shot dead by police in Suez and more than 400 injured in protests across Egypt, as armed Bedouin tribesmen meanwhile abducted 25 Chinese workers in the Sinai Peninsula and seized control of a resort complex.
The BBC says it has seen a “secret NATO report” that finds the Taliban continue to be heavily backed by Pakistan, are confident they can win the Afghan war, and are gaining popular support at the expense of the Kabul government.
In the sixth YouTube edition of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg calls out Ron Paul as a neo-Confederate crank and pseudo-libertarian reactionary. Share this with all Paul-suckers!
Brazil’s government is facing an outcry from rights groups and social movements following a violent Jan. 22 eviction of a favela (informal settlement) that the media have dubbed the “Massacre do Pinheirinho.” Some 2,000 troops from the Military Police of SĂŁo Paulo… Read moreBrazil: outrage follows “Massacre of Pinheirinho”
Brazilian prosecutors plan to file criminal charges against Chevron officials for November’s 3,000-barrel oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. The spill has not yet been contained, with oil still seeping from the ocean floor.
There whereabouts of 29 Chinese road workers abducted by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan remain unknown. Rights groups charge the new road is being used to facilitate counter-insurgency.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, joined by Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, charged that several detainees have been tortured to death in recent weeks by forces of Libya’s transitional government.
