Salvatore Mancuso, top chieftan of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) began testimony Dec. 19 before a special tribunal about the paramilitary newtwork’s role in massacres and assassinations. Under a peace deal with the government, the AUC leaders will… Read moreColombia: para leader testifies at tribunal; dialogue stalled
Ecologists warn that current rates of tapping frankincense are endangering the fragrant resin’s sustained production. Writing in the December issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology, Professor Frans Bongers of the Netherlands’ Wageningen University says that over-tapping Ethiopia’s Boswellia trees… Read moreChristmas rush threatens Ethiopian frankincense source
New Ethiopian troops movements are reported in Somalia, as a deadline set by the Islamic Courts Union for a Somali jihad against Ethiopia expired Dec. 19. Witnesses and local officials said a new detachment of Ethiopian troops in a column… Read moreSomalia: Ethiopian troop build-up as jihad deadline expires
According to the “Joel Sierra” Regional Human Rights Committee Foundation, “armed opposition groups” are believed responsible for a number of recent murders of civilians in Colombia’s eastern department of Arauca. The killings include the Nov. 29 murder of campesinos Edgar… Read moreColombia: guerillas kill campesinos?
On Dec. 12, troops from the Colombian Army’s 12th Brigade, attached to the Sixth Division, killed campesinos Juan Bautista Munoz and Over Semanate and driver Javier Garzon in the community of La Estrella in La Montanita municipality, in the southern… Read moreColombia: army kills more campesinos
Assadullah Wafa, the new governor of Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province, vowed upon taking office Dec. 19 not to allow further peace deals like the one struck earlier this year between British NATO forces and tribal elders in Musa Qala district…. Read moreAfghanistan: new hardline gov for war-torn Helmand
From The Independent, Dec. 15: France yesterday defended recent fighter jet raids on towns bordering Sudan’s Darfur region by claiming the aggressive action was aimed at preventing regional chaos. In the past two weeks, with minimal publicity, Mirage F1 jets… Read moreFrench air-strikes in Central African Republic; Darfur crisis spreads
The commanders of six small Mexican guerilla groups said in an interview published in the national daily La Jornada Dec. 15 that the message from the recent events in Oaxaca is that “any attempt to transform our society in a… Read moreMexico: guerillas speak on Oaxaca crisis
From El Universal, Dec. 18: Over 2,000 women marched through Oaxaca City on Sunday calling for Gov. Ulises Ruiz’s ouster and the immediate release of the more than 200 members of the Oaxaca People’s Assembly (APPO) detained since the street… Read moreOaxaca: women march as prisoner release begins
Our December issue featured the story (reprinted from our sibling publication Toward Freedom) “Nuclear-Free Central Asia: A Model for the Korean Peninsula?” by Rene Wadlow. It noted a real glimmer of hope in the terrifyingly bleak world situation: the repudiation… Read moreThe nuclear terrorist threat: our readers write
From Nunatsiaq News, principal newspaper of Nunavut, the autonomous territory of the Inuit people in Canada’s far north (links added): The effort to link climate change with human rights has suffered a setback. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights won’t… Read moreInuit petition on climate change rejected
Mexico’s new (and still-contested) President Felipe Calderon, touring Chiapas on Dec. 14, announced new steps to beef up border control and fight organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Accompanied by Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna and Chiapas Gov…. Read moreMexico: Calderon targets Chiapas
