An indigenous leader who 11 years ago escaped kidnappers from the FARC rebel group, was gunned down in the southwestern Colombian department of Cauca Jan. 12, according to the regional indigenous alliance ACIN. Milciades Trochez Conda was shot 10 times by two assailants on a motorcycle who intercepted him on a road near the hamlet of Caloto, ACIN said, citing witness accounts. A member of the indigenous council at the village of Jambaló, Trochez Conda, 39, was a father of seven and a leader in efforts to secure the autonomy of the region's resguardos (indigenous reserves) against armed groups. He was killed on his way to Santander de Quilichao, the nearest market town.

Loggers have invaded the Amazon home of an "uncontacted" Awa-Gwajá band, a sub-group of the Awá indigenous people, after a young girl was reportedly burned alive as a warning to terrorize the band. The Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) news service reported the attack, in the Araribóia reserve of Brazil's Maranhão state, saying that members of the neighboring Guajajara tribe found the burned remains of an Awá child in the forest in October. The corpse was found in an abandoned Awa-Gwajá camp. Guajajara leaders told CIMI that while they often see Awa-Gwajá in the forest while hunting, they have seen none since the attack, and believe they have fled. Luis Carlos Guajajaras told CIMI: "They burned the child. Just to be evil. She was from another tribe, they live deep in the jungle, and have no contact with the outside world. It would have been the first time she had ever seen white men. We heard that they laughed as they burned her to death."

Police in Kosova used force to break up roadblocks by hundreds of ethnic Albanians who halted traffic entering from neighboring Serbia to protest what they called Serbian obstruction of the country's independence since its secession in 2008. In the town of Podujevo, near the Merdare border crossing, riot police used tear gas and water cannons on some 500 demonstrators, who responded by throwing rocks. Dozens were reportedly detained, with injuries reported on both sides. The protests were organized by the Self-Determination movement, which holds 14 seats in Kosova's 120-seat parliament. The movement's leader Albin Kurti accused his political opponents of hindering the functioning of the Kosovar republic "because their interests are linked to imports and sales of Serbian products." (RFE/RL, RIA-Novosti, Jan. 15)

Police in Bucharest fired tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators who blocked traffic in the city's University Square Jan. 14 to protest austerity measures and poor living standards. Protesters called for President Traian Basescu's resignation and early elections, carrying signs reading "Liberty" and "Down with President Basescu." In 2009, Romania took a two-year $27.5 billion loan from the EU, IMF and the World Bank, which imposed harsh austerity measures, reducing public wages by 25% and increasing taxes. The catalyst for the protests was the resignation of popular health official Raed Arafat, a Palestinian with Romanian citizenship who opposed health "reforms" proposed by the government. (AlJazeera, AP, CNN, Jan. 15)

Thousands of followers of the far-right Jobbik party protested against the EU in Budapest Jan. 14. Two Jobbik MPs set an EU flag on fire at the protest in front of the European Commission offices. "This week the EU declared war on Hungary in a very harsh and open way," Csanad Szegedi, a Jobbik member of European Parliament told the crowd of some 2,000. The EU had threatened legal action against Prime Minister Viktor Orban's conservative government over new constitutional measures that centralize power in the hands of the executive, and that European leaders say undermine the independence of Hungary's central bank. On Jan. 2, tens of thousands of socialists, Greens and other leftists marched against the constitutional changes, which include imposition of flat tax, accusing Orban of being a "Viktator." They massed outside the Budapest opera house as Orban's ruling Fidesz party held a gala celebration inside.

A new survey by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicates that the value of opium in Afghanistan soared by 133% in 2011 over the previous year, netting farmers $1.4 billion. A blight last year wiped out much of the poppy yield, driving up prices. Yields have now returned to pre-blight levels—a 61% increase, from 3,600 tons in 2010 to 5,800 tons last year. But prices remain high, and UNODC says a simultaneous drop in the price of wheat contributed to the increase in poppy cultivation. Gross income from opium in 2011 was 11 times higher than that earned from wheat—the biggest difference in income since 2003. Afghanistan currently supplies an estimated 90% of the world's opium, with the largest areas of poppy cultivation in the country's restive south. (VOA, Jan. 13)

Protesters wearing orange jump-suits and black hoods marched in Washington DC Jan. 11 to mark 10 years since the opening of the military prison at Guantánamo Bay. The grimly attired demonstrators marched down Pennsylvania Ave. from the White House, past the Capitol building, before finishing at the Supreme Court. Thrity-seven members of Witness Against Torture were arrested in a civil disobedience action at the White House, refusing to move when ordered to clear the sidewalk by National Park police. The first detainees arrived at the Guantánamo facility on January 11, 2002—20 men seized as "enemy combatants" in Afghanistan. Nearly 800 prisoners were to pass through the military detention center over the next decade.

The government of Burma signed a ceasefire agreement Jan. 12 with ethnic Karen rebels who have been fighting for regional autonomy since independence from Britain in 1948. Representatives from the two sides met in the Karen town of Hpa-an (Kayin state). Negotiations on a formal peace deal are to follow, although Karen National Union leaders were cautious—especially on their principal demand of a federative government for Burma. The KNU's vice-chairman, David Thakabaw, noted that talks have broken down over this demand before, telling the Democratic Voice of Burma opposition news service: "Our past experience dealing with the government has always been tricky. They’re not very honest—they say good words but today is just like before." But the KNU's Brig-Gen. "Johnny" expressed some optimism: ''This time they didn't ask us to give up our arms, they just want to work for equal rights for ethnic groups This time we trust them.''