From Human Rights Watch, April 7:

Yemen: Investigate Laws-of-War Violations
Government and Huthi Rebels Should Hold Perpetrators Accountable
The Yemeni government and Huthi rebels should investigate alleged violations of the laws of war during the recent conflict and hold all those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. On February 11, 2010, both sides agreed to a truce - the sixth since the war began in 2004, but the agreement contains no accountability provisions.

China signed a free trade agreement on April 8 with Costa Rica—a country that only established diplomatic ties with the Asian giant in 2007. China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement that the pact was signed in Beijing by Commerce Minister Chen Deming and his Costa Rican counterpart Marco Ruiz. President-elect Laura Chinchilla, who takes over from Oscar Arias next month, will need support from opposition lawmakers to approve the deal and make Costa Rica the third Latin American nation to seal a trade agreement with the People's Republic.

Unidentified assailants threw an explosive over the fence of the US consulate in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on April 11. The blast caused some damage but no injuries. Authorities are investigating the explosion and have temporarily closed the consulate, as well as another in nearby Piedras Negras. "The Consulate General and Consular Agency will reopen when we are confident that we have adequate security to keep our visitors safe," a press release said. (Latin America News Dispatch, April 12; BBC News, April 11)

Indigenous journalist Mauricio Moreno Medina, founding member of a community radio station for the Pijao people, was murdered April 11 by unknown assailants at his home in the town of Ortega, Tolima department. Medina, 50, died of multiple knife wounds. Police say they see no link to illegal armed groups, asserting that Moreno had not received any death threats. But Reporters Without Borders (RWB) suggest that the murder was not a "crime of passion" as police maintain. "The label 'crime of passion' is too often used to avoid investigation of any link with the victim’s work, even to the extent of covering up a case. This has already happened in several other murders of journalists in Colombia," RWB said. "As a director of a community radio, the kind of media often targeted by the authorities, particularly in conflict areas, Medina ran risks as a result of his work."

Iran announced it will lodge a formal complaint at the UN against remarks by US President Barack Obama that Washington could use nuclear weapons against Tehran. "We will submit our formal complaint against this kind of threats to the United Nations," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast in an interview with the Fars News Agency, calling the remarks "a threat to global security."

Israel's leading human rights groups are mobilizing to halt two new military orders that are to take effect April 13, which will make any resident of the occupied West Bank who does not have an Israeli-issued permit liable for deportation or imprisonment. The new "Order Regarding Prevention of Infiltration" and "Order Regarding Security Provisions" have "severe ramifications," the rights groups say. Palestinians, and any foreigners living in the West Bank, could be labelled infiltrators and deported within 72 hours or imprisoned for seven years if they are found without the correct permit. But the orders do not define what Israel considers a valid permit.

Former Kyrgyz foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva announced April 8 that she will lead an interim government in Kyrgyzstan after violent protests the previous day apparently ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his administration. Otunbayeva, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan, urged Bakiyev to resign and said that her temporary government will rule for six months until the country holds democratic elections. Bakiyev, who has fled the capital Bishkek for the southern city of Osh, said in a statement that he will not resign.

World War 4 Report will be at a reduced level of activity for the month of April while editor Bill Weinberg is traveling overseas, including to attend the alternative conference on climate change that Evo Morales has called in Bolivia. Please check back with us periodically, and feel free to make a small donation to facilitate this work.