Central America
Honduras: most dangerous country for ecologists
Human rights group Global Witness ranked Honduras as the world's most dangerous country for environmental defenders, with 109 slain over the past five years.
Tag: land
Southeast Asia
Bloody repression of peasant protests in Mindanao
Three were killed when security forces opened fire on farmers and lumad (indigenous people) who were blockading a highway in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
The Andes
Colombia: will paras fill post-FARC power vacuum?
Rights groups see an urgent threat that criminal gangs and paramilitary groups will fill the power vacuum in remote areas of Colombia as the FARC is demobilized.
Central America
Belize: villagers on trial for protecting Maya site
Thirteen Maya villagers are to stand trial in Belize over their expulsion of a settler they said had illegally encroached upon the grounds of an archeological site.
Central America
Honduras: another indigenous leader assassinated
Honduran activist Nelson Noe García Lainez was gunned down upon returning home following the Military Police eviction of a peasant squatter community on contested lands.
South Asia
Land-grabbing behind India’s new caste wars
Inter-caste violence and protests mount in India as corporate interests seize untitled peasant lands, increasing economic pressure on rural communities.
Central America
Indigenous leader slain in Honduras
Berta Cáceres, a prominent indigenous activist in Honduras who last year won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, was slain in her home at La Esperanza village.
The Andes
Colombia: campesinos still under attack
Despite the peace process in Colombia, assassinations continue against leaders of the country's campesino and indigenous communities who stand up to landed interests.
The Andes
Indigenous role seen in FARC demobilization
Leaders of Colombia's indigenous peoples have volunteered to have their autonomous authorities oversee the controversial "demobilization zones" for FARC fighters.
Central America
Guatemala: harsh terms for crimes against humanity
A retired army officer and an ex-paramilitary were sentenced to 120 years and 240 years, respectively, for sexual slavery and crimes against humanity during Guatemala's civil war.
Palestine
Israeli forces demolish school in Bedouin community
Israeli forces demolished the sole school in the Bedouin community of Abu al-Nuwaar in the occupied West Bank, sparking a protest by local children.
The Andes
Colombia: court protects highlands from mining
Colombia's Constitutional Court overturned provisions of the government's new National Development Plan that allowed mining in the ecologically critical high alpine zones.