US President Barack Obama has decided to seek a delay of the release of photographs depicting abusive treatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, reversing an earlier decision, White House officials said May 13. Last month, the Department of Justice agreed to release at least 44 photographs pursuant to a court order. The photos were scheduled to be released May 28. Obama reversed that decision after meeting last week with White house lawyers, citing concerns over retribution against US troops serving overseas. Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also wrote to Obama last week to urge him to fight the release of the photos.

A Canadian oil company has signed a deal with Peru's government allowing it to explore land inhabited by one of the world's last uncontacted tribes. The company, Petrolifera, has reached an agreement to explore almost four thousand sq kms of a remote part of Peru where uncontacted Cacataibo indigenous bands live. Two local organizations, the Common Good Institute (IBC) and the Native Federation of Cacataibo Communities (FENACOCA), have previously asked the government to turn the area into a reserve for the indigenous groups.

The Movement of People Harmed by Dams (MAB) and the local branch of Vía Campesina ("Campesino Way") held a vigil the evening of May 7 at the Mártires de Abril Plaza in Belém, capital of the northern Brazilian state of Pará, to demand the release of 18 people arrested on April 26 when the state's militarized police broke up a sit-in near the Tucuruí dam. The prisoners each face at least 11 charges; if convicted they could be sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The Costa Rica-based Inter-American Human Rights Court (CIDH) of the Organization of American States (OAS) ruled on May 6 that the Honduran government shared responsibility for the murder of environmental activist Blanca Jeannette Kawas Fernández at her home in Tela on Feb. 6, 1995. Kawas Fernández, the president of the Foundation for the Protection of the Natural Resources of Lancetilla, Punta Sal and Texiguat (Prolansate), had accused timber companies of illegal exploitation of the Punta Sal peninsula and of plans for its illegal appropriation, along with damage to the National Park and other protected sites. She had also opposed several economic development plans in the region.

Dozens of Haitian activists held a sit-in in front of the Dominican embassy in Pétionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, on the morning of May 8 to protest the lynching of Haitian national Carlos Nérilus in Santo Domingo on May 2. The activists denounced both the failure of Dominican authorities to protect Haitian nationals and what they called the "laissez-faire" policy of the Haitian government; they demanded the immediate recall of Fritz Cinéas, Haiti's ambassador in Santo Domingo.

The Abu Dhabi authorities have detained a brother of the president and opened a criminal investigation of a videotape in which he appears to torture an Afghan grain merchant, the Emirates judicial department said in a statement May 11. Sheik Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, whose brother is both the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the seven-member United Arab Emirates, is the first member of the ruling family known to have been criminally investigated. The grisly videotape surfaced last month, provoking outrage in the US Congress, which is set to consider a civilian nuclear agreement with the UAE. (NYT, May 12)

Thousands fled their homes in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on May 11 after at least 35 people were killed over the weekend, while masked Islamist fighters were seen heading toward the city. People fled in taxis and pickup trucks stacked with suitcases, mattresses, furniture and other belongings. The local Elman Human Rights Organization said 17,200 people had fled the capital since Saturday May 9. (AP, May 11)

Sri Lankan government forces are accused of shelling a hospital, killing at least 47 people and wounding more than 50 others. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and medical sources said the makeshift hospital in Mullivaikal was hit by artillery fire early on May 12. Civilians who had been injured in attacks over the weekend were among the dead. The claims are impossible to verify as reporters and aid groups are banned from the area of fighting.