A court in Tibet sentenced 30 people to prison terms ranging from three years to life April 29 in charges related to the March uprising. (NYT, April 30) China has detained scores of Buddhist monks over the past month, according… Read moreTibet: sweeps continue at monasteries
One step closer to an October Surprise? From The Telegraph, April 30: America said it had despatched a second aircraft carrier group to the Gulf on Wednesday, as the State Department branded Iran the world’s “most active” state sponsor of… Read moreAnother carrier to Persian Gulf
Residents of western Baghdad’s al-Salam district say militant groups in the area are hunting down women and killing them, and have petitioned the Iraqi parliament for urgent action. “Over the past six months 15 women were killed in al-Salam neighborhood… Read moreSexual cleansing in Iraq
From the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq, via US Labor Against the War, April 29: May Day Message from the Port Workers in Iraq to West Coast dock workers in the US In solidarity with the ILWU, the… Read moreIraqi port workers to strike in support of ILWU
On April 22, a riot broke out at the Mira Loma immigration detention center in Lancaster, Calif., which holds nearly 1,000 immigrants. The riot allegedly involved the South Siders and Paisa gangs, according to a detainee who spoke with the… Read moreICE detainees transferred after riot
On April 11, Palestinian professor Sami Al-Arian was transferred into ICE custody after completing a sentence on civil contempt citations for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury. On April 15, ICE agents transported Al-Arian from the Northern Neck… Read morePalestinian professor transfered to ICE custody
Peru's top public prosecutor Luis Landa Burgos ordered that new charges be brought against ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori over the forcible sterilization of thousands of indigenous and peasant women during his time in power in the 1990s. Three of his former ministers are also to face charges, as well as his ex-health director. Landa said he has an archive of testimony from survivors including Inés Condori, an indigenous woman from Cuzco region who was the first to speak out about the forced sterilization she underwent in 1995. Fujimori, already convicted on other rights abuses and corruption charges, was released from prison following a presidential pardon in December. Landa is now evaluating the legality of the pardon in light of new criminal charges that have been brought. (Photo of sterilization survivors in community meeting from La República via CNDH)
West Bank farmer Jamil Khader, 87, became very ill when he discovered that nearly all of the 1,400 olive trees his extended family planted in February had suddenly gone missing. Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN Back to story.
On a visit to Mexico City April 29, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Congress to approve the pending $500 million anti-drug program for Mexico, telling reporters, “Failure to do so would be a real slap at Mexico and would… Read moreGates presses Congress on Plan Mexico
On April 25, Mexican federal legislators of the three political parties that make up the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) ended their 16-day occupation of the congressional chambers after a deal was worked out with representatives of the ruling National Action… Read moreOccupation of Mexico’s Congress chambers ends —for now
A series of early-morning gun battles between presumed narco-gangsters in the busy streets of Tijuana—including one outside a hospital—left 15 dead and seven wounded April 26. Authorities are not releasing any of the names of the dead, but the local… Read moreMexican media speculate on Tijuana bloodbath
Just two days after Beijing’s surprise announcement that it would shortly meet with aides to the Dalai Lama, the Chinese Communist party’s official mouthpiece hurled fresh invective at the exiled Tibetan leader. The April 27 People’s Daily commentary stated: “The… Read moreChinese police gird for repression
