Street clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi shook Egypt's port of Alexandria June 28, in a day of rival protests nationwide that left two dead—including a US citizen who was photographing. Several Muslim Brotherhood offices were ransacked and some torched across the country, including the offices in Alexandria and the Nile Delta governorates of Beheira, Gharbiya, Daqahilyah and Kafr Al-Sheikh. The Brotherhood released a statement holding members of the anti-Morsi Tamarod ("Rebel") campaign responsible for the violence, slamming them as "thugs." Cairo's Tahrir Square was again occupied, as thousands marched on the iconic plaza to demand Morsi's ouster. 

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) released a report (PDF) June 27 pressing Iraqi leaders to develop measures addressing the growing trend of human rights abuses in the country. According to the UN, terrorist groups killed more than 3,100 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 12,100 during 2012. UNAMI stresses that these figures indicate a reversal in the reduction of violence in recent years and a growth in the use of "asymmetric tactics" deliberately targeting civilians. UNAMI notes that while political instability continues to impede security, leaders must do more to ensure "the proper coordination" of "financial, medical and other forms of support" for victims of violence. In addition UNAMI reports that the government continues to impose "lengthy periods of pre-trial detention" without formal charge because of the lack of resources provided to the judiciary. As a result, detainees have complained of inadequate access to legal counsel. UNAMI also calls on leaders to implement a moratorium on the death penalty in accordance with several UN resolutions. According to the report, the government executed 123 prisoners during 2012, some after extracting confessions through abuse and torture. UNAMI urges the government to take all necessary measures to implement the recommendations set forth in the report.

Hello, readers. Two of you who showed up at my presentation about Peru this evening on Manhattan's Lower East Side brought along your donations for World War 4 Report. So the tally now stands at $175. That means $825 to go. In addition to the costs of travel in South America—which allows us to bring you the most comprehensive coverage available in English on indigenous struggles in the Andes—we also had to install a new anti-spam program in order to re-enable comments. And did numerous other such pain-in-the-butt upgrades. Now we have to pay for it. Your chief blogger and his all-volunteer bare-bones editorial crew are too busy producing journalism to battle with the controls of the website, so we had to contract someone to do the upgrades for us. Please do your part to allow us to continue our work...

A campesino leader in Peru's Cajamarca region, the scene of ongoing protests over mining operations, was assassinated June 26. Carlos Vásquez Becerra, vice president of the Provincial Federation of Rondas Campesinas (peasant self-defense patrols) was found beaten to death in Chiramayo Canyon in his native Santa Cruz province. The day before, he had led a meeting of comuneros in nearby Ninabamba district to plan protests against the operations of La Zanja mining company.  The National Unitary Center of Rondas Campesinas of Peru (CUNARC) is demanding an investigation. (Caballero Verde, La Nueva Prensa, Cajamarca, RPP, June 26) One campeisno was killed in protests over La Zanja's local operations in 2004.

At least 10 people were killed June 25 when elite troops from the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) of Brazil's Military Police raided the Nova Holanda favela in Rio de Janeiro's sprawling northern district Complexo da Maré. Authorities said the deaths occurred following a gun battle between police and criminals taking advantage of protests sweeping through the city to loot and steal. One police officer was reportedly among the dead. Protests continue throughout the city; on the day of the clash, hundreds blocked streets for several hours in the outlying districts of Capao Redondo and Campo Limpo. The following day, violence exploded as some 100,000 marched in Belo Horizonte, where Brazil played Uruguay in Confederations Cup semi-finals. Stores were looted, vehicles burned, and one protester killed when he fell from an overpass. (Zero Hora, AP, June 27; Al Jazeera, June 26; Correio do Brasil, June 25)

Convicted terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal," on June 26 lost an appeal of his conviction for taking part in four bombings in France in 1982 and 1983, including two that took place in Marseilles on New Year's Eve in 1983. A total of 11 people were killed in the bombings, and approximately 140 were injured. In denying his appeal, the anti-terrorism court upheld Ramírez's life sentence. Ramírez has called himself a "professional revolutionary" and has claimed to have been involved in dozens of attacks which have killed and injured hundreds of people. Despite these claims, Ramírez has continued to deny any involvement in the four bombings. Ramírez's lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre stated that her client would appeal again.

A Saudi Arabian court on June 24 sentenced human rights activist Abdulkarim al-Khader to eight years in prison for sedition. Abdulkarim al-Khader was one of the founders of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), which aimed to increase awareness of civil rights in the country. He was sentenced to prison  after the ACPRA campaigned for a constitutional monarchy and elections in the Gulf Arab kingdom, during his time as its leader. Three years of the sentence must be spent in jail, and for five years he may avoid imprisonment only if he suspends his activities. The same court sentenced two other human rights activists, also founders of the ACPRA, to 10 years in prison in March. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has denounced the sentencing and demanded al-Khader's immediate release.

Amnesty International has issued a statement protesting the charges brought against Edward Snowden under the US Espionage Act. "No one should be charged under any law for disclosing information of human rights violations by the US government," said Amnesty's international law director Widney Brown. "Such disclosures are protected under the rights to information and freedom of expression." Snowden (now without a valid passport) is apparently at the Moscow airport, awaiting a flight to (depending on the account) Ecuador, Venezuela or Cuba. There is a delicious irony to countries usually portrayed as authoritarian offering refuge while the ostensibly "democratic" United States is thusly chastised. "Regardless of where Snowden ends up he has the right to seek asylum," said Brown. "Even if such a claim failed, no country can return a person to another country where there is a substantial risk of ill-treatment. His forced transfer to the USA would put him at great risk of human rights violations and must be challenged."