Peru's largest labor organization, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), held a one-day nationwide strike on May 27 in support of indigenous people who have been protesting since April 9 in the country's northeastern Amazon region against a package of laws they say will open up their lands to mining and drilling without consultation with local communities. The CGTP strike came on the second day of a May 26-27 strike called by the Inter-Ethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Forest (AIDESEP), an indigenous organization which has led the protests in the Amazon region.

Dozens of prisoners escaped from Bagua Grande prison, in Peru's Amazonas region, and fled into the jungle in a daring jailbreak May 31. At least 44 inmates escaped, taking an AK-47 rifle with them, after ambushing prison guards and threatening them with knives, authorities said. The majority of those who escaped were convicted or facing trial for violent robbery. Authorities are seeking agreement with indigenous leaders to stop and search vehicles in the area, and a senior official from Peru's national penal authority has been flown in to coordinate the man-hunt. (BBC News, May 31)

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on May 31 dismissed calls from Amnesty International to publish the official death toll during the finals weeks of the armed conflict that ended last month. Bogollagama said that only Sri Lankan courts will be permitted to investigate both alleged human rights violations and the number of civilian deaths that occurred during the final weeks of the conflict. AI has called for an independent investigation into the matter, while the UN Under-Secretary General John Holmes has said that it will be very difficult to accurately assess such a number. Media sources have continued to question the numbers circulated by Sri Lankan authorities and the UN as potentially up to three times below the actual number of deaths.

The legislative committee of the Israeli cabinet on May 31 rejected a bill that would make a declaration of allegiance to a "Jewish, Zionist and democratic" Israel a prerequisite to the issuance of a national identity card. The measure was proposed last week by Knesset member David Rotem of the Israel Beytenu party, which was the only party to vote in favor of the bill. Israel Beytenu spokesman Tal Nahum criticized the vote and said that the party would continue to pursue this and similar measures. Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the New York Jewish Week last week that the proposal was discriminatory, aimed at only the Arab minority.

US automaker General Motors (GM) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection June 1. The proceedings will be handled by Judge Robert Gerber of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York—which is also overseeing the bankruptcy of rival automaker Chrysler Group. US President Barack Obama addressed concerns that the federal government's large ownership stake in GM may hinder the company's recovery saying:

The US Supreme Court issued an order June 1 allowing the government more time to appeal a ruling that mandates release of photos allegedly depicting detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. The order, issued by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, follows a Justice Department request and grants a 30-day delay, extending the deadline to appeal from June 9 to July 9. Congress is currently considering legislation that would exempt the disclosure of certain photographs under the Freedom of Information Act in cases where the secretary of defense certifies that such disclosure would endanger US personnel. (Jurist, June 1)

Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr June 1 asked to have his US military lawyers dismissed for arguing and disagreeing among themselves. The disputes among the members of Khadr's US defense team arose from chief defense counsel Col. Peter Masciola's efforts to dismiss Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler as lead counsel for Khadr after Kuebler filed a formal complaint against Masciola alleging a conflict of interest.

An AP story in Montana's Billings Gazette June 1 notes that Scott Roeder—the suspect in the slaying of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, gunned down while serving as an usher during Sunday services at his Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas—was a member of the radical right group the Montana Freemen, who gained fame for their long stand-off with law enforcement in the mid '90s. It also notes the two-faced stance of the "legitimate" anti-choice movement in their supposed disavowal of the slaying: