GENEVA - The U.N. top rights body is condemning abuses following the June 28 coup in Honduras. The 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed Thursday a proposal by Latin American countries, including Cuba, calling for an immediate end to all human rights violations. The Geneva-based council, of which the United States is a member, also called for the restoration of the ousted government of President Manuel Zelaya. Honduras' interim leaders suspended some civil liberties...

Mr. Tom Newman JINSA Dear Mr. Newman, As part of the Argentine efforts to combat terrorism and anti-Semitism, I would like to share with you some paragraphs of the speech delivered by the President of the Republic of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to the United Nations General Assembly last Wednesday September 23, 2009. I also emphasize that following direct instruction from the President, the Argentine Delegation left the room along with the US, France, Australia,...

Honduras's de facto government should immediately rescind an emergency decree that severely restricts press freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today. Honduran security forces seized the offices of Radio Globo and Cholusat Sur television early today and shut down their broadcasting, two days after the decree was issued. Both broadcasters have been openly supportive of deposed president Manuel Zelaya. The de facto government issued the decree on September 26, 2009, prohibiting all public...

Jesuit Father Ismael Moreno, S.J., director of Radio Progreso in El Progreso, Honduras has received several death threats in the past days. Fr. Ismael is a close friend of the Dominican Community and a well known Catholic leader in Honduras. Source:

Honduras' de facto government sent troops on Monday to shut down two media stations loyal to ousted President Manuel Zelaya, digging in to resist international pressure for his return to power. Zelaya was overthrown in a military coup on June 28, but he secretly returned from exile and sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy last Monday, sparking a tense standoff with the de facto civilian government that has promised to arrest him. Hundreds of soldiers and riot police have surrounded the...

The Organization of American States should press the Honduran de facto government to halt the excessive use of force against protesters and to guarantee other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch has received credible reports that the use of excessive force by Honduran security forces against demonstrators has caused at least one death, and possibly more. Credible sources also report that more than 150 people have been arbitrarily detained. "The...

Ousted President Manuel Zelaya holed up in Brazil's Embassy in Honduras's capital while soldiers and police dispersed his rock-throwing supporters with tear gas and water cannons. Tegucigalpa was locked down under a curfew Tuesday, while international airports remained closed. Honduras's interim government temporarily cut off power, water and telephone contact with the Brazilian Embassy where Mr. Zelaya took refuge Monday after he slipped secretly into Honduras in an attempt to reclaim the...

TEHRAN - An Iran-Venezuela joint oil company plans to build a refinery in Syria as its first international venture with a capacity of 140,000 barrels of oil per day, Iran's Oil Ministry website SHANA reported on Tuesday. "The construction of a refinery in Syria has been foreseen as the two countries' first joint international activity," said Mohammad-Ali Talebi, a senior official at Petropars Oil and Gas Company. Talebi said Iran would hold a 26 percent stake in the project while...

Amnesty International welcomes the release of Mexican prisoner of conscience Jacinta Francisco Marcial, who was held in prison for three years after being falsely accused of kidnapping six federal agents. The mother of six, an Otomí Indigenous woman from Santiago Mexquititlán in the Mexican state of Querétaro, was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment in December 2006. Amnesty International is calling for a full review into her unfounded prosecution and for her to...

The Jewish cemetery of La Tablada, located on Crovara 2,800, suffered the assault to 58 graves with stolen objects. 8 of them belonging to victims of the AMIA attack, said Julio Schlosser, General secretary of the Israeli Mutual. For its part, the president of Inadi, María José Lubertino, noted that “it is clearly an anti-Semitic aggression” the criminals also stole pictures of victims of the AMIA bombing, “the fact might have some other connotation. Inadi...