Amnesty International has reiterated its call to the Mexican authorities to urgently establish the fate of three people who were taken by army personnel in December and have not been seen since. Jose Angél Alvarado Herrera and his cousins Nitza Paola Alvarado Espinoza and Rocío Irene Alvarado Reyes were last seen on 29 December 2009, when a group of 10 soldiers took them from the town of Buenaventura, Chihuahua State, northern Mexico. The soldiers did not show any arrest...

President Garcia told the press that he considers as “correct” the decision of the Army and the Ministry of Defense to purchase Chinese tanks, and stressed that such a decision "doesn't contradict our vocation against an arms race."He advanced that this acquisition is “almost a fact” and that the respective draft agreements with the Asian country have already been signed. Garcia Perez added that thanks to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, "we got an...

Defense Minister Rafael Rey announced Thursday that South Korea donated eight used light attack aircrafts to Peru, which will be used for training air force pilots and conducting border surveillance and counter-narcotics operations. Rey told TV Peru the donation of the Cessna-built A-37 Dragonfly combat planes is valued at $66 million. South Korea also donated additional engines and spare parts that the Air Force will use to repair four other aircraft. “The donation of the eight planes...

Russia and Nicaragua will hold joint military exercises, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on the sidelines of talks with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega during a working visit to Latin America, RIA-Novosti reported Monday. The planned exercises could anger the United States, which considers Latin America as part of its traditional sphere of influence. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin published an article Monday in Kommersant denying a report in the newspaper last week...

Amnesty International on Friday accused the Mexican government of unfairly imprisoning two indigenous women for the kidnapping of six police officers in 2006 and demanded their immediate release. The two women, who were sentenced to 21 years in prison, are awaiting the outcome of their retrial. Amnesty International has adopted them as "prisoners of conscience". Alberta Alcántara and Teresa González Cornelio have been held in the Centro de Readaptación...

Washington, DC - The Chávez administration should not abuse its authority to compel broadcast of presidential speeches that promote the government's political agenda, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 23, 2010, the Chávez government threatened to take action against cable providers that aired channels that did not comply with Venezuelan regulations, including the requirement to interrupt regular broadcasting to broadcast presidential speeches. The following day, the...

Bogotá - Colombia needs to respond effectively to the violent groups committing human rights abuses that have emerged around the country in the aftermath of the flawed demobilization of paramilitary groups, Human Rights Watch says in a report released today. The 122-page report, "Paramilitaries' Heirs: The New Face of Violence in Colombia," documents widespread and serious abuses by successor groups to the paramilitary coalition known as the United Self-Defense Forces of...

Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center Feb 16, Tuesday, 9:35 am Saville Theatre San Diego City College Victor Hugo Lopez will speak about how the human rights situation in Mexican state of Chiapas has deteriorated rapidly in recent months, including an attack on a fellow lawyer from the Fray Bartolome Center (frayba.org.mx) in September. As popular organizations wage peaceful struggles against paramilitary violence, tourism projects that will displace campesinos, and illegal land...

LONDON - As the United States remains otherwise engaged in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Russia has secured a long-term security role in Latin America, becoming its largest military supplier between 2008 and 2009, data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies showed. It happened while the Bush and Obama administrations' attention and energies were focused on anti-terrorist operations in the Middle East and elsewhere and not so much in Central or South America. Analysts said...

Amnesty International on Thursday issued a series of recommendations to newly elected Honduran President Porfirio Lobo to repair the damage done to human rights since the June 2009 coup d'état, which left hundreds seeking justice. The 13 recommendations include issues relating to investigations into the human rights abuses committed by security forces, rejecting amnesty laws for those responsible for the crimes, training judges on international human rights legislation and setting...