Federal judicial authorities in Mexico have granted an injuction to a group of Zoque indigenous campesinos in the Chimalapas region straddling the border of Chiapas and Oaxaca states, halting construction of a road through their territory. The petitioners, from the… Read morePeasant ecologists halt highway construction on Chiapas-Oaxaca border
On June 14, Jose Luis Soberanes Fernandez, president of Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), confirmed that soldiers had raped at least two underage girls and possibly two others during an anti-drug operation in Caracuaro, Michoacan, from May 2 to… Read moreMexico: rights commission confirms army abuses
The Chamber of Representatives of the Colombian Congress voted 62-43 the night of June 14 to approve a law recognizing civil unions. The law would allow same-sex couples to register if they have lived together for two years and are… Read moreGay rights advance in Colombia —Brazil next?
On June 12, more than 150 ICE agents executed search and arrest warrants at three sites in Portland, Oregon, connected with the Fresh Del Monte company and its Portland fruit and vegetable processing facility, arresting about 165 workers and three… Read moreICE raids spark protests in Portland, New Haven
Work crews and police arrived early June 15 to demolish twelve more homes at the village in Karasai district outside Almaty, Kazakhstan, where an embattled Hare Krishna commune is based. “The houses were literally crushed into dust,” Hare Krishna spokesperson… Read moreKazakhstan escalates Hare Krishna crackdown
The government of the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca apologized for the first time June 15 for a police raid on striking teachers in the central plaza of the state capital one year ago that led to Mexico’s worst political… Read moreOaxaca: government issues apology for repression
Supposed Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abu Dujana was arrested June 9 by Indonesia’s elite anti-terrorist Detachment 88 in a raid in the southern Java town of Yogyakarta, authorities say. The reportedly Afghan-trained Dujana is accused of assisting and harboring Jemaah Islamiyah… Read moreJemaah Islamiyah funds Mindanao insurgents?
From the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), June 13: The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the shooting of a Mexican journalist who had received death threats in connection with his investigation of the slaying of a U.S. journalist during violent… Read moreOaxaca: journalist shot while investigating Brad Will case
The UN is expected to release a report shortly that will shed light on human rights violations of migrants in the United States. The report will be presented to the Human Rights Council by Special Rapporteur on the Rights of… Read moreUN to report on rights abuses of immigrants in United States
From ZNet, June 12—George Monbiot‘s latest in his series of exchanges with Alexander Cockburn over the question of global warming: The Conspiracy Widens So at last, and after only seven requests, we have some references. And, to no gasps of… Read moreAlexander Cockburn embraces climate change “conspiracy theory”
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerillas have declared a unilateral cease-fire, while still maintaining the right to “self-defense” against Turkish forces. “We are renewing our declaration to halt attacks against the Turkish army,” said PKK official Abdul Rahman Chaderchi, speaking… Read morePKK declares unilateral ceasefire
Leave it to Bollywood. Someone actually went and did it. At least “Springtime for Hitler” was satire. This wasn’t, I don’t think. Yesterday I was eating lunch at one of the fast-food curry joints in Little India (Lexington Ave. in… Read moreAuschwitz: The Musical
