Tag: police state

Southeast Asia

Duterte drug war de-escalation: how real?

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte won rare favorable international headlines when he said he would pull his National Police force out of his brutal "war on drugs," which has now reached the point of mass murder. The move came after public outrage over the police slaying of an unarmed youth. But Amnesty International notes that he made such promises after a similar outrage a few months back—and nothing changed. 

Southeast Asia

Indonesia unleashes ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, following in the bloody footsteps of the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, has issued a "shoot-on-sight" policy for drug suspects. The hardline policy comes amid a sudden media blitz about the drug "state of emergency" in the archipelago nation.

North Africa

Mauritania: press crackdown amid political crisis

Authorities in Mauritania ordered the country's five privately owned news stations off the air. The move is the latest sign of a crackdown on the independent press following a controversial referendum called by President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz in August. The opposition-boycotted vote abolished Mauritania's Senate after it blocked an expansion of presidential powers.

Europe
Belarus

Anarchist historian arrested in Belarus police raid

Riot police raided a bookstore in the Belarusian city of Hrodno, interrupting a lecture by anarchist historian Pyotr Ryabov, who was visiting from Moscow, and arresting him on the pretext of breaking up an "unsanctioned mass gathering." Ryabov, who had been giving a presentation on "Libertarian Social Thought," was convicted on charges of "hooliganism" and sentenced to six days in jail. He spent the six days on hunger strike

Southern Cone

Brazil deploys army to conflicted Rio favela

Brazil's ongoing favela wars have taken a dramatic turn for the bloody—prompting the government to send military troops into Rio de Janiero's notorious Rocinha. This is the most violent of the city's sprawling favelas—informal urban settlements virtually abandoned by the government for anything other than militarized anti-drug operations. The violence in Rocinha is the deadliest since the launch of a "pacification" program in 2011 to push warring narco-gangs out of the city's favelas.

Southeast Asia

Philippines: Duterte threatens to kill his own son

Philippine President Rodirgo Duterte—whose "war on drugs" has now reached the point of mass murder—was put on the hot spot when his own son was called to testify before a Senate hearing on drug corruption. He thundered that he had ordered the National Police to kill his son like any other drug suspect. And amid the relentless police killings, he gutted the country's official human rights office, reducing its budget to an insulting $20 a year.

Southeast Asia

Philippines: Duterte in bed with narco gangs?

Is it really possible that Philippine President Rodirgo Duterte—who has unleashed a "war on drugs" that has now reached the point of mass murder—is himself mixed up in the drug trade? With the Philippine Senate now launching multiple investigations into the drug-related violence, charges of involvement in the narco trade have reached some of Duterte's closest family members.

Greater Middle East

Turkish court orders release of opposition leader

A Turkish court ordered the release of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarian Ayhan Bilgen, who had been jailed over allegations of terrorism. The release followed a "Conscience and Justice Watch" at the Constitutional Court building to demand action for those they believed were unjustly and unlawfully imprisoned.

Southeast Asia

Duterte calls for genocide against drug users

National Police troops in the Philippines killed 32 people in a day of anti-drug operations in the working-class Manila suburb of Bucalan. In the resultant outcry, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed open enthusiasm for the bloodshed—and warned that it is just beginning. "There were 32 killed in Bulacan in a massive raid, that's good," Duterte boasted in a speech to his new newly formed anti-drug paramilitary force. "Let's kill another 32 every day. Maybe we can reduce what ails this country."

Southern Cone

Argentina: protests over ‘disappeared’ activist

Tens of thousands of Argentines held protests across the country, demanding answers one month after the disappearance of an indigenous rights activist. Demonstrators held photos of Santiago Maldonado, who was last seen when border police evicted a group of indigenous Mapuche from lands in the southern Patagonia region. In Buenos Aires, protesters converged on the Plaza de Mayo, iconic for its role in the struggle to demand justice for the "disappeared" under the military dictatorship.

North America

Arpaio pardon: green light for rights violations

Trump's pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio is a clear signal that constitutional and human rights violations are to be rewarded, not punished, under his administration. A federal judge found Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt last month, for violating a court order in a racial profiling case. In his announcement, Trump said that "Arpaio's life and career…exemplify selfless public service."

Southeast Asia

Duterte still defiant on draconian drug war

The Philippines' ultra-hardline President Rodrigo Duterte met in Manila with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and came away gloating that the new administration in Washington is unconcerned with his blood-drenched "war on drugs," that has left perhaps 8,000 dead since he took office just over a year ago. Duterte sneered to reporters at a press conference after the Tillerson meeting: "Human rights—you go there and you might have a bomb dropped on your head." That's no joke coming from a regime already accused of killing journalists.