Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change accused President Robert Mugabe’s government of setting up a sham investigation into electoral violence to deflect international criticism. The MDC says 43 of its members have been killed and scores forced from their homes… Read moreZimbabwe opposition: rights probe a sham
From the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, May 19: The Chinese authorities had arrested a revered religious figure in Kardze, Tibet according to reliable information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
The Authentic Labor Front (FAT), an independent Mexican labor group, announced on May 13 that one of its affiliates is set to declare a strike at the Central de Abasto, Mexico City’s huge wholesale food market, on May 30. For… Read moreMexico: union attacked in capital
On May 15 the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders—a program sponsored jointly by the World Organization Against Torture and the International Federation of Human Rights—issued an urgent call for the Colombian government to ensure the safety of… Read moreColombia: rights activist threatened
On May 13 unknown persons riding a motorcycle shot and killed Julio Cesar Molina, a leader of refugees from Colombia’s internal conflicts who were displaced to the rural zone of Ansermanueva in the southwestern department of Valle del Cauca. On… Read moreColombia: refugee leader murdered
Bogotá May 18 rejected charges from Venezuela that 60 Colombian soldiers had entered its territory in what Caracas called a provocation aimed at destabilizing the region. “There has been no incursion,” Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told local radio,… Read moreVenezuela charges Colombian military incursion
Ciudad Juárez Public Safety Director Guillermo Prieto submitted his resignation following a string of killings that included some of his top officers. AP May 18 cites a city spokesman saying Prieto would be replaced by a military officer on leave… Read moreMexican military to take over Juárez police?
Lebanon’s polarized politicians appealed to Qatar May 17 to come up with a proposal on the question of Hezbollah’s weapons during Arab-brokered talks in Doha. 65 people were killed in nearly a week of fighting, in which Hezbollah and its… Read moreLebanon: “civil war by any standard”
On May 15, thousands gathered in Ramallah to mark the 60th anniversary of al-Nakba. Crowds marched from refugee camps around Ramallah, converging in the center of the city for speeches and traditional dancing. At Kalandia camp, thousands of black balloons… Read moreRamallah: black balloons commemorate Nakba
May 5 marked the beginning of an intended thirty-day strike, with public transport workers and truckers in Nicaragua protesting rising fuel costs and the lack of government impetus to do anything about it. With road blockades in several places in… Read moreNicaragua: rising fuel costs spark transit strike
Fifty environmental activists protested Barrick Gold’s controversial Pascua Lama gold mine in Chile on May 8. The event went unnoticed by Chile’s mainline media—La Tercera and El Mercurio—but was reported in La Nacion, the state-owned daily. The demonstration coincided with… Read moreChlieans protest Barrick Gold
