Africa
Congo: Katanga next for mineral boom —and war?
Following defeat of the M23 rebels in the war-torn east, the DRC is touting an imminent mineral boom in southern Katanga—despite a spreading separatist insurgency.
Tag: paramilitaries
The Andes
Colombia: Cauca campesino leader assassinated
Sergio Úlcue Perdomo, a campesino leader who brought a case to the OAS human rights body over paramilitary terror in Cauca, was killed at his home by unknown gunmen.
The Andes
Colombia court strikes down military justice law
Colombia’s Constitutional Court struck down a new law that would allow human rights cases to be heard before special military tribunals rather than the civil courts.
The Andes
Colombia: mine opponents assassinated
Cesar García and Adelinda Gómez, two campesino leaders who opposed the operations of AngloGold Ashanti in Colombia, were assassinated just weeks apart.
The Andes
Colombia: river defender assassinated
Nelson Giraldo Posada, a spokesman for campesinos forcibly relocated to make way for the HidroItuango hydro-electric project, was slain by unknown gunmen in Ituango, Colombia.
The Andes
Colombia: injured GM workers continue fight
Injured GM workers are still trying to get compensation and new jobs, while Chiquita continues to deny any responsibility for murders by the paramilitaries it paid off.
The Andes
Colombia: ex-senator wanted for para links
Colombia's high court issued a an arrest order for Luis Alfredo Ramos, former senator and current presidential candidate, on suspicion of collaboration with paramilitaries.
The Andes
Colombia: multinationals on ‘trial’ for rights abuses
An "Ethical Trial against Plunder" was held in Bogotá to air testimony on the environmental and human rights practices of mining and oil interests in Colombia.
The Andes
Colombia: coca production down as narcos diversify
The area planted with coca leaf in Colombia has fallen by 25% according to the UN—but experts fear armed narco networks are moving into illegal gold and emerald mining.
Africa
Darfur: ethnic war exploding again
Efforts by pastoralist militias to bar refugees from returning to their lands in Darfur have sparked yet a new wave of fighting and displacement—with 250,000 uprooted this year.
The Andes
‘We have made mistakes, some serious’: FARC
FARC commander “Pablo Catatumbo” issued a public statement apologizing for “mistakes,” but also called on the US, Israel and other governments to apologize for funding the war.
Iran
Iran: protest conviction of Sufi activists
Human Rights Watch called upon Iran’s judiciary to drop charges and quash the verdicts against 11 members of a Sufi order convicted in what the rights group called unfair trials.