The Caucasus
European rights court holds Russia responsible for Chechen death
The European Court of Human Rights again found Russia liable for the death of an ethnic Chechen at the hands of the security forces.
Author: CounterVortex
North America
Federal judge upholds guilty verdicts in Fort Dix conspiracy case
A judge upheld guilty verdicts against five men convicted of plotting to attack Fort Dix. The defense argued there was no plot, but the government paid informants to get the accused to discuss one.
Mexico
Mexico: more army troops to Juárez in wake of prison massacre
Nearly 7,000 Mexican soldiers and federal police arrived in Ciudad Juárez, as 20 inmates were killed in a turf war between rival gangs at a Chihuahua state prison in the border city.
The Andes
Colombia extradites another para commander —over protests from rights groups
Colombian para commander Hebert Veloza Garcia was extradited to the US—over the protests of rights groups who fear details of government collusion with the paras may never be revealed.
The Andes
Colombia: UN relief chief meets with ethnicities affected by floods, displacement
Meeting with members of indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups impacted by floods and displacement in Colombia, the top UN relief official called for stepped up aid for these communities.
Planet Watch
Environmental groups protest NY gov’s retreat on climate pollution plan
Environmental groups in New York state are protesting Gov. David Paterson’s promise to power producers to rewrite the state’s role in nation’s first plan to cut greenhouse pollution.
Planet Watch
Arrests in West Virginia coal mining protest
Five people were arrested March 5 as they blocked an access road to protest blasting near a dam on the Edwight “mountaintop removal” coal mining site operated by Massey Energy in West Virginia. It was the latest in a wave… Read moreArrests in West Virginia coal mining protest
Watching the Shadows
Supreme Court dismisses al-Marri “enemy combatant” appeal as moot
The US Supreme Court granted a motion by the government to dismiss as moot an appeal challenging the indefinite detention of suspected al-Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri.
Afghanistan
UN: Afghanistan rights situation worsening —especially for women
Afghanistan’s human rights progress has been thwarted by armed conflict, censorship, abuse of power, and violence against women, the UN Human Rights Council charges in a new report.
Europe
CIA goes to bat for accused Serbian war criminal
The CIA submitted a classified document to The Hague listing former Serbian intelligence chief Jovica Stanisic’s collaboration with the US spy agency’s intelligence activities in the ex-Yugoslavia.
Afghanistan
Panetta: Obama to continue GWOT; widening of Pakistan air strikes seen
Leon Panetta, in his first interview as CIA director, told reporters that President Obama will “continue a very aggressive effort to go after terrorists”—implying a widening of drone strikes in Pakistan.
Watching the Shadows
CIA admits 92 “terror tapes” destroyed
The CIA has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of “terror” suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, government lawyers said in a letter filed as part of an ACLU lawsuit.