police state

Africa

South Africa deploys military against gangs, illegal mining

During the annual State of the Nation address, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of military troops to support police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in the provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape. South Africa has for years struggled with gang violence and illegal mining, which are now said to threaten the country’s stability. The government has intensified efforts to combat the surge in violence by implementing targeted strategies and measures, such as creating specialized police units, but these have proved ineffectual. (Photo: Wesley Nitsckie via Wikipedia)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: resist cellular hegemony!

As the architecture of total surveillance falls inexorably into place, cellular technology comes to colonize more and more of daily human existence. Accepted in the banal interest of “convenience,” this trajectory ultimately ends in not only the extinction of human freedom, but the abolition of humanity itself—an idea openly embraced by the fascist tech bros as “transhumanism,” and warned of by CS Lewis in his eerily prescient 1943 work The Abolition of Man. In Episode 317 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg urges a revolution of everyday life, in which we start saying no to the relentless encroachment of cellular and digital technology. (Image: Wikipedia, modified by CounterVortex)

Africa

UN rights chief protests Burkina Faso civic crackdown

The UN’s top human rights official demanded that Burkina Faso end its clampdown on civic freedoms, including an announced ban on political parties. In his comments, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk emphasized that the government’s decision to prohibit political parties marks a serious setback for the freedoms of expression, association and political participation in Burkina Faso. The rights chief further urged the government to repeal its restrictive laws, allow unimpeded humanitarian assistance to those in need, and unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained. Türk’s office stated that the authorities’ actions have “sharply constricted civil society’s activity in the country, inconsistent with international human rights law.” (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Central America

Costa Rica emulates Salvador police state model

The right-wing populist Laura Fernández will be Costa Rica’s next president, securing nearly 50% of the vote in last week’s election. She is the first candidate in more than a decade to clear the threshold needed to win outright in the first round. She did so by promising to respond forcefully to the country’s exaggerated yet real insecurity crisis linked to the drug trade—the overwhelming concern for most voters. On the campaign trail, Fernández drew openly from the playbook of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, whose brutal anti-gang crackdown has inspired conservatives across the region. She called for a “state of exception” to combat crime, promised to complete the construction of a massive Bukele-inspired prison, and spoke with Bukele before any other foreign leader after her win. (Image: Grunge Love)

South Asia

Pakistan’s Baloch students are vanishing

Pakistan’s Balochistan just witnessed one of the province’s deadliest episodes: a wave of attacks and clashes across several cities that left dozens of civilians, fighters and security personnel dead, with official tolls as high as 200. It marked the latest escalation in decades of conflict between separatist groups and the Pakistani state in Balochistan, where the central government has long been accused of exploiting rich resources while marginalizing the local population. But before the recent violence, public attention was focused on the abduction of a young Baloch student, a case that has reignited simmering anger over enforced disappearances. For more than 6,000 days, activists have maintained a protest camp in Quetta, the provincial capital, demanding answers for hundreds of missing Baloch citizens believed to have been abducted and killed by the security forces. “The very existence of the Baloch is perceived as a threat to the state,” said Sabiha Baloch, head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a local rights organization. “The more educated, conscious, and politically aware the Baloch become, the more threatened the state feels.” (Image: BYC)

Europe

Arrests as French farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal

UN experts cautioned against the escalating use of arrests and criminal proceedings against agricultural trade union activity in France, after authorities detained 52 farmers during peaceful protests in Paris. Union leaders and members of the Confédération Paysanne held protests in opposition to the EU-Mercosur Deal, signed in December 2024 but still pending ratification, which would reduce tariffs and more deeply link the European market with the bloc of South American nations. Participants unfurled banners in offices of the Agriculture Ministry in protest of the agreement. Protesters included a large delegation from the French overseas regions of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte, all of which have denounced unfair import costs imposed upon them by the government. Three key spokespersons were among those arrested. (Photo: UN Human Rights Council via Twitter)

Inner Asia

Kazakhstan: activists protesting Xinjiang abuses face prison

Amnesty International called on Kazakhstan to immediately drop criminal charges against 19 activists affiliated the local Atajurt human rights movement who face up to 10 years in prison for participating in a peaceful protest near the nation’s border with China. The demonstrators, many of whom are ethnic Kazakhs originally from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, had gathered to demand the release of Alimnur Turganbay, a Kazakhstan citizen detained in China since July under unclear circumstances. Authorities initially pursued administrative charges, including “hooliganism,” imposing fines and short-term detention of up to 15 days. Reportedly, following a diplomatic note from Chinese authorities, prosecutors escalated the case with criminal charges. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Planet Watch

UN condemns ‘alarming’ global increase in executions

The UN Human Rights Office raised concern over a “sharp hike” in the number of executions globally in 2025. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said his office “monitored an alarming increase in the use of the capital punishment in 2025, especially for offences not meeting the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold required under international law, the continued execution of people convicted of crimes committed as children, as well as persistent secrecy around executions.” The increase primarily came from executions for drug-related offenses in a small number of retentionist states. These are countries that continue to retain capital punishment, as opposed to the growing number of abolitionist states. which do not employ the death penalty. (Photo: ICHRI)

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 America

Rule of law under attack amid rising authoritarianism in US: Amnesty International

Amnesty International published a report warning of rising authoritarianism in the US and detailing numerous ways in which the rule of law and basic rights are being threatened. The report, entitled Ringing the Alarm Bells: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the United States, ties these areas of concern largely to the policies of President Donald Trump. They range from threats to freedom of speech and protest, to the erosion of anti-discrimination protections. The report finds that a key test of democratic resilience will be the federal midterm elections of November 2026, with many early signals pointing to mounting threats to the right to vote. (Photo: Chad Davis)

Central America

Guatemala declares national emergency

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo declared a 30-day nationwide “state of siege” following a spree of gang violence that left nine police officers dead in the nation’s capital. The declaration was made unilaterally and currently awaits congressional approval. However, it will remain in place until a decision is reached. The recent killings are believed to be gang retaliation for state authorities retaking gang-controlled areas of three maximum-security prisons. The facilities had been taken over in a series of riots that saw over 40 guards taken hostage. The riots were reportedly a response to incarcerated gang members losing certain privileges in prison. (Image: Freestock via Flickr)

Iran

Iran & Minneapolis: fearful symmetry

As ICE agents open fire on protesters in Minneapolis, Portland and Los Angeles, Trump frames his military threats against Iran in terms of human rights and democracy—an atypical nod back to the neocons. Following mass deadly repression, the protests in Iran appear to have abated—for now. In Minnesota, both Trump and protesters are turning up the heat. Trump’s blatant hypocrisy highlights the imperative of international solidarity. The challenge for stateside protesters is to repudiate the calumny that the Iran protests are CIA or Mossad astroturf, and recognize them as a genuine self-organized popular uprising. The challenge for Iranian protesters is to repudiate Trump’s bid to exploit them for his imperial ends, as well to reject the ambitions of the reactionary “crown prince” Reza Pahlavi to install himself as leader. In Episode 313 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg urges that explicit mutual support between the anti-authoritarian struggles in the US and Iran is what can move the historical process forward at this grim hour. (Photo: Chad Davis)