Three armed Islamists, including a senior member of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) thought to be close to its leader Abdelmalek Droukdel, were arrested in central Algeria's Ghardaia province on Aug. 15. Necib Tayeb AKA Abderrahmane Abou Ishak Essoufi, the head of AQIM's so-called "judicial committee," had been wanted since 1995. The three were apprehended in a four-wheel-drive vehicle loaded with weapons at a checkpoint at the entrance to Berriane while apparently en route to the Sahel. Authorities hailed the arrests as a "fatal blow" to AQIM, which is said to be badly divided by internal factionalism. (Magharebia, Aug. 23; AFP, Aug. 20)

Presumed militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) early Aug. 21 blew up a pipeline pumping liquefied gas to Yemen's southern Balhaf export terminal, causing a complete halt in operations, security officials said. The gunmen blew up the pipeline "at Station 5, in the village of Zahira, in the Shabwa province," according to the provincial security chief. Witnesses reported that dozens of villagers fled their houses due to a raging fire caused by the explosion. (Critical Threats, Aug. 22; Middle East Online, Aug. 21) On Aug. 18, presumed AQAP militants killed at least 14 soldiers and security guards in a car bomb and grenade attack on the intelligence service headquarters in the southern port city of Aden. (Reuters, Aug. 18)

A panel of UN human rights experts on Aug. 21 urged Chile to make sure that people who have been convicted of enforced disappearances all serve their sentences. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) stated that while Chile has made great strides since it transitioned to democracy, many challenges remain. While the WGEID praised Chile for combating human rights violations in recent years, it stated that Chile needs to do more to ensure that justice is served:

After nearly 10 years of struggle, Mexican campesinos fighting to protect their lands from the planned La Parota hydro-dam on the Río Papagayo won a definitive victory with the Aug. 16 signing of the "Cacahuatepec Accords" by Guerrero's Gov. Ángel Aguirre Rivero and the Council of Ejidos and Communities in Opposition to La Parota Dam (CECOP). Under  the agreement, Aguirre has committed the state not to approve La Parota dam if affected communities do not accept it, if they are not justly compensated, or it will impact the environment—effectively ending the project. Aguirre is also committed to seek an audience between CECOP and Mexican President Felipe Calderón to assure a commitment to the same principles from the federal government. La Parota dam would have flooded  17,000 hectares, impacting some 100,000 local residents. 

The comunarios (communal peasants) of Marka La Joya, on the morning of Aug. 21 initiated an occupation of the installations of the Inti Raymi Mining Company at La Titina, outside the Altiplano city of Oruro, in protest of the pollution of local water sources with cyanide and other toxins. Traditional Aymara authorities of the ayllus (agricultural communities) of Jach'a Carangas, Jakisa, Sura and Uru, which together constitute  Marka La Joya, charged that the government of President Evo Morales and the Plurinational Legislative Assembly are making laws that favor the mineral industry, without the involvement of indigenous communities impacted by mining projects. "We view with profound concern...that the government, through the corresponding ministries, has drawn up—without consultation—the projects of the Mining Laws, the Rights of Mother Earth, Water, Prior Consultation...without the participation of social sectors, and especially of the indigenous nations and original peoples," the statement read. (OCMAL, OIDEC, Aug. 21; La Opinón, Cochabamba, Aug. 20)

In an interview with Dow Jones last week, Richard O'Brien, CEO of Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corp. acknowledged that the conditions do not exist to move ahead with the $5 billion Conga gold and copper project in Cajamarca, Peru. O'Brien said there must be a "consistent environment that we would need for the successful conduct of both mining and all those things that go with mining, whether that is transporting people or equipment. Right now we don't see that environment in Conga. It will take a significant change to make that happen." (Fox Business News, Aug. 17) This week, a new 48-hour paro (civil strike) has been declared to oppose the Conga project in Cajamarca region, much of which remains under a state of emergency. To kick off the strike Aug. 22, hundreds of campesinos marched in the province of Bambamarca, in defiance of a ban on public protests. The marchers were mostly ronderos (members of the self-defense patrol) the outlying village of El Tambo, which is within the impact zone of the proposed mine. The campesinos held a gathering at Laguna Namococha, one of the highland lakes that would be degraded by the project. (La Republica, Aug. 22)

OK readers, we have finally unveiled our long-awaited redesign. Now we need to pay for it. To get out of debt, we needed to raise at least $1,000 dollars. Well, we finally did it, and now want to start putting funds toward journalism—more first-hand reports from the indigenous struggle in Andes, our planned excursion to North Africa and Western Sahara... The kind of reportage on forgotten struggles for land and autonomy around the world that you only find on World War 4 Report. $1,000 isn't very much—far less than what most alternative websites ask of their readers. If you value World War 4 Report's work, and want us to be there to continue bringing you news from the Fourth World across Planet Earth, please keep responding to our urgent fund appeal—now, while you are thinking about it! 

Now, this is truly depressing. We have long defended Amnesty International against "left-wing" charges that it is a front for US imperialism (ironically mirrored by establishmentarian charges that it is a pawn in some sinister anti-American conspiracy). We've held its ruthless objectivity in the highest regard—its unwillingness to lower its vigilance against abuses by any regime, East or West, right or left, conservative or populist. We've relied on the organization for truthful, documented reports on the actual human rights conditions in countries all over the world. But earlier this year, for the first time we began to have doubts...