Anti-labor violence is again reaching a peak in Colombia, with four education workers affiliated to the Teachers' Association of Córdoba (ADEMACOR) assassinated in the northern coastal department since Jan. 28. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), together with its Colombian affiliates, has strongly condemned these murders, noting that they have been simultaneous with a wave of threats and attacks against the leaders of the Teachers' Association of Antioquia (ADIDA).

Through a closed-circuit satellite link from a US federal prison in Virginia, where he is facing drug trafficking charges, former Colombian paramilitary chief Salvatore Mancuso asserted to a panel of his country's Supreme Court in Bogotá April 29 that his illegal forces supported Álvaro Uribe's election in 2002. He is now the fourth paramilitary chief to make the claim. Mancuso also declared that he participated in a plot against former Supreme Court magistrate Iván Velásquez, who was the leading judge investigating the Uribe government's collaboration with paramilitary groups.

The American Power Act, a bill proposing a carbon trading system for reducing US greenhouse gas emissions, was introduced May 12 in the Senate. Written by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the bill aims to reduce emissions by 17% in 2020 and by over 80% in 2050. President Barack Obama endorsed the bill, saying, "This legislation will put America on the path to a clean energy economy that will create American jobs building the solar panels, wind blades and the car batteries of the future. It will strengthen our national security by beginning to break our dependence on foreign oil. And it will protect our environment for our children and grandchildren."

A lawyer from Spain's National Court Office of the Prosecutor on May 12 petitioned judge Ismael Moreno to issue arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents who allegedly kidnapped a German citizen of Lebanese descent in 2003 as part of the Bush administration's "extraordinary rendition" program. Khaled el-Masri claims that the CIA kidnapped him while he was traveling to Macedonia in 2003 and transported him to a secret detention facility in Afghanistan where he was held for four months. The Office of the Prosecutor alleges that the court has jurisdiction to issue the warrants because the agents made a stop in Spanish territory using hidden identities without official Spanish government authorization to do so.

From the Center for Constitutional Rights, May 13:

Obama Administration Sides with Bush DOJ,
Asks Supreme Court to Keep Canadian Rendition Victim Maher Arar from His Day in Court
NEW YORK – Late yesterday, the Obama Department of Justice chose to weigh in for the first time on the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) case on behalf of Canadian citizen Maher Arar against US officials for their role in sending him to Syria to be tortured and detained for a year.

From Human Rights Watch, May 13:

Israel: Investigate Unlawful Destruction in Gaza War
Gaza Blockade Hinders Rebuilding of Property
JERUSALEM — Israel should investigate the unlawful destruction of civilian property during the 2009 Gaza hostilities and lift the blockade that hinders residents from rebuilding their homes, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

Local trade unionists are demanding answers following the apparent killing in custody of Sipho Jele, an activist in the Swaziland Agriculture and Plantation Workers' Union (SAPWU) and People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), who was arrested during May Day protests. Swaziland's largest opposition party, PUDEMO is being relentlessly persecuted under the government's notorious Suppression of Terrorism Act. Swaziland has been living under a State of Emergency since 1973. Swazi authorities are calling the Jele's death a suicide.

Iranian teacher, trade unionist and human rights activist Farzad Kamangar was among five political prisoners executed by hanging May 9 at Tehran's Evin Prison. The five, including one woman, were accused of collaboration with the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an armed separatist organization. "They confessed carrying out deadly terrorist operations in the country in the past years," the official news agency IRNA said. However, the charges against the five were considerably more vague, and included "moharebe," or enmity against God. The five were convicted in 2008, and Iran's Supreme Court later upheld their death sentences. None of the lawyers or the families of the defendants were made aware of executions beforehand.