Blind human rights activist Chen Guangcheng on April 27 succeeded in escaping from house arrest, under which had been held since September 2010 at his hometown in a rural area of China's Shandong province. From an unknown location, he issued a YouTube appeal to Premier Wen Jiabao, making three demands: that authorities investigate and punish those responsible for threats and violence against his family; that the security of his family be ensured; and a general crackdown on corruption.

Thirty-three were arrested April 22 by Onondaga County sheriff's deputies for protesting at upstate New York's Hancock Field air base over the use of unmanned drones in Afghanistan. The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones brought together activists from Veterans for Peace, Occupy Buffalo, the Western New York Peace Center and other groups for the protest. Activists planned to deliver a "war crimes indictment" to base personnel, but were "pre-emptively" arrested as they approached the base.

Protesters in Benghazi have for days now been blocking the entrance to the offices of Libya's biggest oil company, Agoco, to demand jobs for youth and greater transparency over public funds. (Tripoli Post, April 25) Meanwhile the National Transitional Council (NTC) has passed a measure that bans parties based on religious or ethnic identity. The law comes two months ahead of the country's first general elections to choose a 200-member assembly to draw up a new constitution and form a democratic government. The new law is of course opposed by the new Freedom and Development Party, linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Catholic Online, Tripoli Post, April 26)

Leaders of the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) announced April 25 that will postpone the start of the Ninth Indigenous March by one day, and change the starting point from the village of Chaparina to the city of Trinidad, departmental capital of Beni, some 275 kilometers to the east—in order to avoid conflict with counter-protesters, who have blocked the highway in order to impede the march. Chaparina was chosen because it was the site of the police repression of last year's similar march, called to halt construction of a highway through Bolivia's northern Amazon region. Supporters of the new highway launched roadblocks at San Ignacio de Moxos, the town closest to Chaparina. CIDOB leader Adolfo Chávez said the decision was taken to avert a confrontation with "our brothers from San Ignacio." Government Minister Carlos Romero meanwhile flew into San Ignacio de Moxos to meet with the counter-protest leaders, and said he had secured an agreement for them to dismantle their blockades. (Erbol, EFE, ANF, April 25)

Thousands of miners affiliated with the Bolivian Workers Central (COB) marched and blocked streets in the cities of La Paz and Cochabamba in a two-day strike April 24-5, throwing dynamite at police who formed a cordon around the presidential palace. The miners are demanding a pay raise above the 7% offered by the government this year. Authorities said that at east 30 were injured, including both protesters and police. Meanwhile, public health workers occupied the historic San Agustín church in central La Paz, where several initiated a hunger strike to press their own demands for a pay raise. They are also demanding that the Health Ministry overturn Decree 1126, which returns employees' workday from six hours to eight starting next month.

A special event in New York City April 26 will commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the arrest of the late Palestinian activist and Homeland Security detainee Farouk Abdel-Muhti, in the room where his supporters regularly met to organize the fight for his freedom. The event will feature a screening of Enemy Alien, a first-person documentary on the campaign to free Abdel-Muhti, who was arrested at his home in Queens in the post-9-11 sweeps of Muslim immigrants and held for almost two years. He died of a heart attack just three months after he was finally set free in 2004. The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Konrad Aderer, the grandson of Japanese Americans interned during World War II. Others who were involved in the case will also be on hand, including Center for Constitutional Rights attorney Shayana Kadidal, who has since served as senior managing attorney for the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative; and MacDonald Scott, legal representative with No One Is Illegal Toronto.

Released on the eve of a World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, a new report reveals widespread rights violations and environmental destruction from a "land grab" initially funded by the World Bank in Uganda. The Friends of the Earth Uganda report provides first-hand accounts from communities forced to give up their livelihoods, food supply and access to water.

President Ollanta Humala spoke April 20 on the new "expert review" of the controversial Conga gold mine project proposed for Peru's northern Cajamarca region, assuring local residents that they would be ensured an ample water supply. Echoing recommendations of the report, Humala said two high mountain lakes slated to be destroyed by the project—known as Azul and Chica—should not be drained and filled with mine waste. He added that his government will spend about $1.8 billion on infrastructure in Cajamarca. Minera Yanacocha, owner of the Minas Conga project, said it will seek technical "alternatives" in order to allow work to resume on the stalled $4.8 billion project. The company said in a statement: "The report by the international experts has ratified unquestionably the environmental impact study, or EIA, approved by the Peruvian government in October, 2010. While the experts have proven that the EIA meets with national and international standards, we recognize that every study can be improved." (AP, April 21; Dow Jones, April 20)