US federal magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth in Columbus, Ga., surprised observers on Jan. 25 by sentencing three activists to six-month prison terms for trespassing on the US Army's Fort Benning base; the maximum sentence for the offense. Nancy Gwin of Syracuse, NY, Father Louie Vitale of Oakland, Calif., and Ken Hayes of Austin, Tex., were arrested on Nov. 22 as part of an annual protest outside the base against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the US Army School of the Americas (SOA), which has trained many of the hemisphere's worst human rights violators. A fourth defendant, Michael Walli of Washington, DC, refused to appear for the trial, and Judge Faircloth issued a warrant for his arrest. Walli had told the court during his November arraignment that he would not pay any bail and that he would not voluntarily return for the trial. "I walk out and it's goodbye," he told the judge.

The Nigeria-based Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP) has submitted a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requesting an inquiry into the spate of religious violence that erupted in the city of Jos in January. SERAP lawyers argue that the ICC should investigate alleged unlawful killings and other human rights abuses that took place in violation of the ICC's Rome Statute.

Canadian citizen Maher Arar on Feb. 1 asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that he cannot sue the US government for damages based on his detention in the US and his detention, interrogation, and torture in Syria after he was mistakenly "renditioned" as a terrorist. Arar is attempting to challenge the US government's policy of "extraordinary rendition" under the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.

President Barack Obama is set to boost funding for nuclear weapons programs next year, even as his administration promotes nonproliferation and pledges to reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear arms. The new White House budget request seeks more than $7 billion for the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), an increase of $624 million from FY 2010.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Jan. 31 poked fun at Colombia's expulsion of a Venezuelan soldier accused of carrying out an operation in Colombian territory, saying "only people like Rambo or the Terminator undertake solo missions." Sgt. Juan Gómez of the Venezuelan National Guard was expelled from Colombia for "reasons of national security" Jan. 27, the same day that Colombia said that a Venezuelan helicopter violated its airspace.

Plan Colombia, the US financial and military aid program to fight drug trafficking and guerrillas, is not mentioned in the 2011 budget proposal that President Barack Obama sent to Congress. According to JustF.org, Colombia will receive $228 million in military aid, 20% less than it received in 2009. Economic aid will slightly be diminished and is proposed to be set at $239 million. Colombia still remains the largest US aid recipient in South America.

The Colombian Air Force denied Jan. 31 that its planes had bombed the indigenous Embera Katío community of Alto Guayabal in the Urabá region early that morning, leaving four wounded. But the following day, the army's Seventh Division issued a statement taking responsibility for the air-strike, saying they took place in operations against the FARC rebels. Calling the casualties "lamentable," the statement said two of the injured were evacuated to Medellín. The Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) said one of the casualties was an infant. Indigenous leader William Carupia accused the army of "indiscriminately bombing the communities." (El Tiempo, Bogotá, Feb. 2; El Colombiano, Medellín, RNV, Venezuela, AFP, Feb. 1) Last year the FARC was accused of assassinating Embera residents in the region.

Two high-ranking Israeli military officers have been disciplined for firing shells into a populated area of the Gaza Strip during last year's Operation Cast Lead, it was revealed Feb. 1. The information was contained in a 46-page report presented to the UN on Jan. 29 describing Israel's role in the January 2009 Gaza offensive. According to the report, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired several artillery shells near populated areas in the Tel el-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, destroying a UN compound and a Palestinian hospital. The UN maintains that the compound was hit with white phosphorus shells, while the report concludes that the "use of this weapon in the operation was consistent with Israel's obligations under international law." The two officers involved have since been disciplined for "exceeding their authority in a manner that jeopardized the lives of others," but the Military Advocate General will not pursue a criminal investigation, and the officers will keep their rank and pay. (Jurist, Feb. 1)