WW4 Report

Tibetan exiles march in Nepal as Olympics close

Hundreds of Tibetan exiles Aug. 24 staged a peaceful march in Kathmandu to protest China's rule in Tibet, coinciding with the concluding ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. There were heavy deployment of riot police in the area, but no arrests were reported. Over 2,000 Tibetans—including women, children, nuns and monks—marched from Buddhanath to Swoyambhu, two of the city's historic Buddhist stupas. Many recited hymns in memory of those killed in the Chinese repression this year.

China: Uighurs warn of "fierce" post-Olympic repression in Xinjiang

From the Uyghur American Association (UAA), Aug. 22:

The Uyghur American Association (UAA) believes that recent comments made by Wang Lequan signal an upcoming period of fierce repression against Uyghurs across the People's Republic of China (PRC), particularly in East Turkestan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Bolivia: Evo sends army to oil installations

President Evo Morales announced Aug. 24 he has put all of Bolivia's gas and oil installations under military protection, as protesters in Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija departments prepare new actions to resist national control of the hydrocarbon resources. "I've spoken with armed forces commander in chief, General Luis Trigo, who has precise instructions to safeguard and defend the Bolivian people," Morales told a meeting of pro-government labor unions in Cochabamba. "The government will protect the pipelines and valves." (AFP, Aug. 25)

Iraq war resister sentenced to 15 months

The first US war resister deported from Canada was sentenced to 15 months in prison Aug. 22 at a court martial hearing in Colorado. Pte. Robin Long, 25, of Boise, Idaho, was also given a dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion. The sentence was the longest any convicted army deserter has received since the beginning of the current Iraq war, according to retired US Army Col. Ann Wright, a former diplomat who resigned from her post in protest at the war's outset. Wright testified against the legality of the Iraq war on Long's behalf. Of the thousands of soldiers sentenced for desertion or going AWOL, only former army sergeant Kevin Benderman received an equal term in 2005.

ICE deportation flight to Southeast Asia

In a charter flight that left on Aug. 12 from Seattle, Wash., US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 106 people—including eight women—to Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia. The 49 Filipinos, 44 Indonesians and 13 Cambodians were taken from different locations around the US to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in preparation for the flight. The deportees included 46 people with criminal convictions. ICE officers and medical staff with the Division of Immigration Health Services accompanied the flight, along with consular officials from the countries involved.

ICE steps up "anti-gang" raids

From Aug. 11 to 16, agents arrested 42 foreign nationals in an ICE-led operation targeting street gangs in the metropolitan area of Salt Lake City, Utah. The sweep was carried out with the assistance of the US Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Attorney's Office, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Salt Lake City and Midvale police departments. One of the arrested immigrants was from Guatemala, one was from Honduras, three were from El Salvador and the rest were from Mexico. Of the total 42 people arrested, 10 face federal charges for reentry after deportation; one faces federal charges for illegal possession of a firearm; and 11 others are being prosecuted on state charges. The remaining 20 people were arrested on administrative immigration violations.

Deadly attacks on police across Mexico

Deadly violence is reported across Mexico Aug. 23. In Hidalgo, the bullet-riddled body of state police chief Raymundo Zamorano was found on a roadside a day after he was kidnapped at gunpoint while patrolling the streets of Pachuca in his official car. A Tabasco state police officer was gunned down at a police highway checkpoint near Villahermosa by hitmen in three pickup trucks. A second officer was wounded in the shooting. In Chihuahua state, 13 people, including four police officers, were killed—mostly in Ciudad Juarez, where prosecutors and judicial authorities were holding a regional summit. Among those killed in the city was Jesús Blanco, the new municipal police chief of Villa Ahumada. Two police were also killed in an armed attack on a checkpoint in Mazatlán, Sinaloa. In Valladolid, Yucatán, a taxi driver supposedly linked to the city's narcomenudista (low-level dealer) network was assassinated. (AFP, El Universal, El Universal, Aug. 23)

Afghanistan: "scores" dead in US raid

Afghanistan's interior ministry says US-led forces killed 76 civilians in an Aug. 20 operation—directly contradicting the US military, which said 30 suspected Taliban died. "Seventy-six people, all civilians and most of them women and children, were martyred during the operation by coalition forces in Shindand district of Herat province," the ministry said Aug. 22. "Nineteen women, seven men and the rest children all under 15 years of age," were killed in the operation, the statement said—one of the highest civilian deaths tolls since the 2001 US-led invasion.

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