Deadly violence is reported across Mexico Aug. 23. In Hidalgo, the bullet-riddled body of state police chief Raymundo Zamorano was found on a roadside a day after he was kidnapped at gunpoint while patrolling the streets of Pachuca in his… Read moreDeadly attacks on police across Mexico
Afghanistan’s interior ministry says US-led forces killed 76 civilians in an Aug. 20 operation—directly contradicting the US military, which said 30 suspected Taliban died. “Seventy-six people, all civilians and most of them women and children, were martyred during the operation… Read moreAfghanistan: “scores” dead in US raid
A Los Angeles Times report, “US debates going after militants in Pakistan,” mostly quotes unnamed US officials as saying direct intervention in Pakistan is being viewed with greater seriousness as the country spins out of control. One attributed quote is… Read morePakistan: US mulls intervention, terror escalates
The International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI) has called for an international campaign on behalf of several labor activists in Iran who have been sentenced to public whipping, prison terms and even death—mostly for participating in a… Read moreIran: labor activists sentenced to lashes, prison, death
Mauritanian authorities re-arrested ousted prime minister Yahya Ould Ahmed El Waghef Aug. 21 after he led a protest march in opposition to this month’s military coup. Deposed president Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has been held by the army since… Read moreOusted Mauritanian prime minister arrested after march against coup
Via NYC Indymedia, Aug. 19: August 19, 2008, New York – A group of 52 local activists today announced a $2 million settlement in their lawsuit against the City of New York. The activists were illegally arrested on April 7,… Read moreNYC activists get $2 million settlement in Carlyle Group case
From the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), Aug. 21: The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) today welcomed the removal of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian from his command in West Papua…. Read moreIndicted Indonesian war criminal removed from West Papua
A 24-hour general strike in Bolivia’s opposition-controlled departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, Tarija and Chuquisaca Aug. 19 paralyzed a large swath of the country’s east. Clashes broke out in the city of Santa Cruz, where protesters armed with sticks… Read moreBolivia: opposition strike shuts down five departments
Margarita Mbywangi, a 46-year-old Ache tribal chief who says she was captured in the jungle and sold into forced labor as a child, has been appointed Paraguay’s minister of indigenous affairs by President Fernando Lugo, who was inaugurated Aug. 15…. Read moreParaguay: former slave becomes indigenous affairs minister
Indigenous groups in Peru ended more than a week of militant protests Aug. 20 at key energy sites after lawmakers agreed to overturn a new land law issued by President Alan GarcĂa, which sought to ease corporate access to communal… Read morePeru: indigenous uprising claims victory —for now
On Aug. 8 the Colombian Attorney General’s Office arrested sociologist Liliana (or Liliany) Patricia Obando Villota in Bogotá on charges of organizing events and managing money for the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). On Aug. 9 the Attorney… Read moreColombia: opposition figures targeted for supposed links to FARC
The government of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe continues to be plagued by the parapolĂtica (“parapolitics”) scandal, in which some 60 members of Congress have been linked to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group that is… Read moreColombia: revelations in “parapolitics” scandal link armed forces chief to AUC
