From the Washington Post, Oct. 20: Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases Moving quickly to implement the bill signed by President Bush this week that authorizes military trials of enemy combatants, the administration has formally notified the U.S…. Read moreWhite House seizes power from judiciary under Military Commissions Act
The recently created Honduran anti-delinquency task force Operación Trueno [Operation Thunder] proved critics fears on October 12, when a member of the force shot and killed an innocent citizen Henry Esaú García Fuentes, 25 years old. Fuentes ran away from… Read more“Social cleansing” in Honduras
Two thousand people from the National Forum for the Defense of the Sustainability and Right to Water marched in El Salvador’s capital Oct. 18 against privatization and for universal access to quality water. Members of labor, environmental, women’s, religious and… Read moreSalvadorans march for water rights
The state leader of the Chiapas branch of the Independent Center of Campesinos and Rural Workers (CIOAC), Luis Hernandez Cruz, told a march of some 15,000 followers in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez, that if the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TRIFE)… Read moreChiapas: campesinos pledge resistance if election overturned
Tens of thousands of indigenous people and their allies focused on neoliberal economic programs, US foreign policies and local issues in protests throughout the Americas on Oct. 12, the 514th anniversary of the arrival of European colonizer Christopher Columbus in… Read more“Indigenous resistance” protests held throughout Americas
Thousands of Bolivians marked Oct. 12 with a demonstration in a central plaza in La Paz which was also a show of support for leftist president Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president. Accompanied by indigenous leaders from 12 countries–who… Read moreBolivia: Evo averts crisis, hails day of indigenous resistance
As of the evening of Oct. 15, early returns from Ecuador’s general election that day showed banana magnate Alvaro Noboa leading leftist economist Rafael Correa by about 27% to 22% in the voting for president, virtually guaranteeing that the race… Read moreEcuador: leftist trails as election goes to second round
From the Center for Constitutional Rights, Oct. 17: Bush Signs the Military Commissions Act: CCR Calls it a Blow to Democracy and the Constitution New York, NY – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced President Bush’s signing into… Read moreBush signs Military Commissions Act
Note the rather ironic last line of this account. Perhaps the real lesson US war-makers failed to glean from Pontecorvo’s film was, “Stay out—its hopeless.” From Italy’s AKI news agency, Oct. 13: Gillo Pontecorvo, one of Italy’s leading filmmakers renowned… Read more“Battle of Algiers” director passes, lessons unheeded
From the New York Law Journal, Oct. 17: Veteran defense attorney Lynne Stewart cried tears of relief yesterday as a federal judge ordered her to serve a dramatically lower sentence than prosecutors had requested for her conviction on providing material… Read moreLynne Stewart gets 28 months, remains free pending appeal
Freedom’s on the march in the USA’s closest South Asian ally. From the New York Times, Oct. 14: KABIRWALA, Pakistan — Pursuing justice is not easy for a woman in Pakistan, not if the crime is rape. Ghazala Shaheen knows…. Read moreVendetta rapes persist in Pakistan
From the Free Muslims Coalition, Oct. 12: Free Muslims Condemn Muslim Cab Drivers who Refuse to Pick Up Alcohol Carrying Passengers The Free Muslims Coalition, a national Muslims organization, condemns Muslim cab drivers who refuse to pick up passengers who… Read more“Free Muslims” condemn cab drivers’ boycott of tipsy passengers
