The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado released documents May 18 confirming that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Denver is targeting peaceful political activists for harassment and building files on constitutionally-protected political activities that have nothing to… Read moreJTTF targets protesters
A June 2 AP article reports that North Korea called Vice President Dick Cheney a “bloodthirsty beast” and lambasted him for calling the Democratic People’s Rebublic (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Il “irresponsible.” Said an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry source,… Read moreDPRK: Cheney a “bloodthirsty beast”
Yonatan Ben Artzi, an pacifist Israeli who the IDF refuses to recognize as such, was again denied conscientious objector status by Israel’s High Court of Justice on June 1. The army and state have been wrestling with Ben Artzi, who… Read moreIsraeli pacifist denied CO status — again
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is protesting the arrest of a second representative in Sudan. Vincent Hoedt, a Dutch national and regional coordinator for MSF in Darfur, was arrested May 31 in Nyala. A… Read moreDarfur: Doctors Without Borders volunteers arrested
The following June 2 article is from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Waxman: Investigate anti-Semitism charges A Jewish lawmaker asked the U.S. Defense Department to investigate charges of anti-Semitism at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Wednesday… Read moreAnti-Semitism at Gitmo?
In a detailed analysis of the European Union’s counter-terrorism initiatives in the area of criminal law since 9-11, Amnesty International claims the absence of concrete human rights safeguards in many of these initiatives is likely to undermine efforts to fight… Read moreAmnesty International blasts EU
The New York Police Department is requesting funds to install hundreds more video cameras throughout the city to help fight crime and combat terrorism. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly wants to put up some 400 surveillance cameras on high-crime and high-traffic… Read moreNYC: Big Brother to get bigger
The British oil company Dana Petroleum announced May 26 it has acquired a large interest in the ongoing oil explorations offshore Morocco’s town of Safi. Dana, based in Scottish Aberdeen, produces oil in the British sector of the North Sea… Read moreOil industry eyes disputed African offshore zones
Thirty-seven Islamists have been charged in Mauritania with belonging to an illegal group after being arrested last month on suspicion of links to a organization tied to al-Qaeda. Another 14 were released May 27, and some accused the authorities of… Read moreCrackdown on Islamists in Mauritania
Spain’s foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos began talks May 30 with his Moroccan and Algerian counterparts in the latest attempt to find a solution to the decades-long conflict in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Mohamed Benaissa of Morocco and Algerian Abdelaziz Belajadem… Read morePolisario Front demands UN action on Western Sahara
Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan is pervasive, says Amnesty International today, releasing its latest report “Afghanistan: Women Under Attack.” “Throughout the country, few women are exempt from violence or safe from the threat of it,” the report finds…. Read moreAfghanistan: women still under attack
In an editorial for the July issue of The Progressive, editor Matthew Rothschild makes a serious case for war crimes charges against Rumsfeld and Bush, as well as other White House and Pentagon figures… Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity… Read moreWar crimes charges for Rumsfeld, Bush?
