detention

Watching the Shadows

MAGA-fascism and anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism III

The Justice Department “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” has announced a national propaganda tour—as the DoJ is explicitly targeting anti-fascists for prosecution. The tour also comes as the question of Israel has emerged as the critical issue in the split within MAGA—with elements of the breakaway populist wing virtually gloating that the Israel Lobby’s support for the Trump-loyal pro-war wing will result in a backlash against Jews. Both wings of MAGA are equally reactionary, yet elements of the supposed “left” are already in a dangerous flirtation with the populist wing—and it is a Democratic congressional hopeful, Maureen Galindo of Texas, who is openly calling for mass detention of “Zionists” in repurposed ICE camps. An incipient Red-Brown alliance can be seen, fueled by the Trump regime’s ultra-cynical anti-Semitic pseudo-anti-anti-Semitism. In Episode 330 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes an unsparing look. (Image via frgdr Blog. Hebrew lettering in background spells names of places in Europe where Jews were exterminated.)

The Andes

Colombia: growing toll from armed conflict

In its latest annual report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the “worst humanitarian consequences” of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and “confinement” doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained “confined” in communities under siege by armed actors. (Map: PCL)

Watching the Shadows

Trump admin has transferred 17,400 to ‘third countries’

The Trump administration has built a network of third-country transfer agreements with more than 30 governments and used them to remove over 17,400 people, in some cases in defiance of federal court orders and after individuals had won their release through habeas corpus, according to data released by Human Rights First and Refugees International. The organizations report that the administration in April re-arrested and forcibly transferred to third countries people who had previously been granted withholding of removal by US immigration judges and had prevailed on habeas petitions challenging the legality of their detention. The report documents an attempted transfer of individuals to Libya last year in violation of a court order then in effect. (Photo: Venezuelan deportees in Honduras. Credit: ICE via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Podcast: West Africa escalates toward genocide

Alarming reports that Nigeria has established “concentration camps” for the Fulani ethnic minority cast an ironic light on Nigeria’s tension with the Sahel states of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north. These three regimes have broken from the Western imperial camp (to embrace the nascent Russian imperial camp)—but are likewise subjecting their Fulani minorities to persecution and massacre. With the recent shock rebel offensive in Mali, the “terrorist” stigma that attaches to the Fulani and Tuareg peoples across the imperial camps makes their position more precarious than ever. Meanwhile, prominent voices on the both the right and the (supposed) “left” are spreading propaganda about the struggle in West Africa that is alarmingly wrong, because it exclusively views the crisis through a campist lens. In Episode 327 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg tries to provide some clarity on these fast-escalating and grossly under-reported conflicts. (Photo: Az-Zallaqa via LWJ)

Europe

EU expands migrant detention and deportation rules

The European Union took a significant step toward adopting a Trump-like approach to migration when the EuroParliament approved a new law expanding the power of security agencies to track, detain and deport migrants. Amnesty International criticized the revised “Return Regulation” as “punitive” and a threat to fundamental rights. The law also allows for people to be deported to countries other than their country of origin—a controversial policy used by the Trump administration. Greece, an EU member, is even working directly with US officials to ramp up deportations. (Photo: Sara Creta/TNH)

Central America

El Salvador: deportees face ‘enforced disappearance’

Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns that El Salvador’s government is arbitrarily detaining and forcibly “disappearing” Salvadorans deported from the US. HRW reported that between mid-March and mid-October 2025, at least 11 Salvadoran men deported from the US to El Salvador were immediately detained, and denied contact with relatives or lawyers. Interviews with 20 relatives and attorneys revealed that none of the detainees appeared to have been brought before a judge, and in several cases, families were not informed of where the men were held or why they were detained. When relatives contacted authorities for information, officials reportedly refused to provide details, stating they lacked a legal mandate or had no record of the relatives’ connection to the detainees. (Photo: President Nayib Bukele tours CECOT. Credit: Casa Presidencial via Wikimedia Commons)

Syria

UN Security Council briefed on Syria transition

Senior UN officials told the Security Council that Syria’s fragile political transition has gained momentum following a landmark agreement between Damascus and Kurdish authorities in the northeast. Still, they warned that renewed violence in the south, Israeli incursions, and deep humanitarian needs continue to underscore the precarious path to stability. (Map: PCL)

North America

UN rights chief expresses alarm over deaths in ICE custody

US immigration enforcement faces mounting scrutiny from international officials as well as congressional Democrats following a detainee death ruled a homicide by a county medical examiner in Texas. The disturbing development comes amid a dramatic spike in deaths in Homeland Security custody. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the US to ensure that its immigration policies comply with international law, citing reports of arbitrary detentions, family separations, and dehumanizing treatment. Democratic lawmakers meanwhile demanded that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem answer for a growing death toll in immigration detention since President Donald Trump took office for his second term. (Photo: Paul Goyette in Chicago via Wikimedia Commons)

North Africa

Another mass grave discovered in Libya

The Libyan Attorney General’s Office announced the discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 21 bodies near Benghazi. Investigators have ordered that DNA samples be collected from the remains to identify the deceased and that full autopsies be carried out to determine causes of death. Refugees in Libya, a Libyan-run organization registered in Italy that provides support for refugees, urged the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, to “assess this case within the Court’s mandate.” The group further implicated EU policies: “The killings…occurred within a system where people are blocked, intercepted, returned, and abandoned in Libya after being denied safe pathways to protection. This demands accountability beyond Libya.” (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Syria

Syria: can new integration pact avert war on Rojava?

The Syrian interim government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached an agreement to immediately halt fighting and integrate SDF-held areas into state institutions. The deal follows days of renewed clashes, in which government forces routed SDF strongholds in the city of Aleppo and then pushed east, taking several towns that had been under the control of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration. Just hours before the agreement was reached, autonomous authorities in the Kurdish region, known as Rojava, had announced a “general mobilization” in support of the SDF, citing an “existential war” launched by Damascus against their territory. (Photo: Rudaw)

North America

Abuses at Fort Bliss ICE detention facility

A coalition of civil and human rights organizations is calling for the closure of a massive immigration detention facility at Fort Bliss, alleging guards have beaten detainees and threatened violence, criminal charges and imprisonment in attempts to coerce even non-Mexican migrants into crossing the border into Mexico. The groups, including the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, sent a letter to federal officials detailing the allegations based on interviews with more than 45 detainees. They describe guards using physical force, including abusive sexual contact, against immigrants who refused third-country deportations. The letter also alleges detainees face insufficient food, medical neglect, squalid conditions with sewage flooding living areas, and weeks without outdoor access. The tent facility, erected months ago on a former Japanese American internment camp site within the Fort Bliss complex, dubbed “Camp East Montana,” currently holds over 2,700 people. (Photo via Border Report)

Greater Middle East

Yemen: Houthi authorities round up opposition

Houthi authorities in Yemen have detained dozens of political opponents since July, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported. The rights group said that at least 70 people associated with the opposition party Yemeni Congregation for Reform, or Islah, were detained in Dhamar governorate. HRW noted that 21 of these individuals have been subject to an “unfair trial” on “dubious accusations of espionage,” with 17 sentenced to death by firing squad, and two sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. HRW emphasized that it is illegal under Yemeni law to make arrests without a warrant, and that detention without a legal basis or prompt charges and criminal proceedings violates both domestic and international law. (Map via PCL)