New York City
Brooklyn three: ISIS dupes —or the FBI’s?
Three young immigrants in Brooklyn were arrested and charged with plotting to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. But were the plans invented by an FBI infiltrator?
Tag: police state
Greater Middle East
Rights groups call for release of Syria activists
A coalition of international rights groups called for the release of three Syrian journalists who have been held without trial for three years under the country's Anti-Terrorism Law.
The Andes
Venezuela approves use of force against protesters
Venezuelan authorities issued new regulations allowing soldiers to use deadly force against demonstrators—drawing protest even from sectors traditionally close to the government.
New York City
NYPD ‘anti-terror’ (sic) unit to get machine guns
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton announced a new Strategic Response Group with special weapons to combat terrorists—and protesters.
East Asia
China: draft counter-terror law ‘recipe for abuses’
Human Rights Watch calls China's proposed counter-terrorism legislation a "recipe for abuses" that would instate "total digital surveillance," and allow foreign military missions.
Central Asia
Human rights lawyer imprisoned in Tajikistan
A court in Tajikistan sentenced human rights lawyer Sukhrat Kudratov to nine years in prison, in what Amnesty International called "a serious setback for the freedom of expression."
Europe
Europe: destroying freedom to save it
At thier meeting in Paris to condemn the attack on Charlie Hebdo, European Union government ministers issued a statement calling for further restrictions on the Internet.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: secularism and dictatorship?
A sweeping "anti-terrorism" decree and expanded crackdown on opposition come as Egypt's President al-Sisi is making overtures to the Copts and invoking pluralism.
The Caribbean
Assata Shakur as political football
The US political right uses Assata Shakur to take a hit at Obama's Cuba opening while simultaneously getting subliminal licks in at the Black Lives Matter protests.
Africa
Kenya approves harsh anti-terrorism law
Kenya's parliament passed a sweeping new anti-terrorism law after some of its members engaged in a shoving match that led to blows being exchanged.
The Andes
Colombia: corrupt cops caught in crackdown
Over 50 agents of Colombia's National Police force have been arrested in an ongoing sweep of corrupt officers dubbed the "Transparency Plan."
Africa
Police ‘anti-crime’ extermination campaign in DRC
The decades-long civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is leaving in its wake a police state that sees impoverished youth as a threat and seeks to exterminate them.