The Colombian government should ensure an independent investigation into misuse of the Red Cross emblem by security forces during the July 2 hostage rescue operation, Human Rights Watch said Aug. 7. A videotape made public Aug. 4 shows a soldier wearing a vest displaying the Red Cross emblem before the operation started. In response to images shown earlier of the soldier wearing the emblem during the operation, President Álvaro Uribe had said use of the emblem was a last-minute improvisation by a soldier, and not part of the plan. The new videotape contradicts those claims, suggesting that the Red Cross was deliberately misused from the start, in violation of Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions.

José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a prosecutor who oversaw Mexico's extradition of drug traffickers, resigned Aug. 4—the second senior crime fighter to quit in a week. Santiago was Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor for two decades before taking his current position as sub-prosecutor for international affairs in the office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR). Noé Ramírez resigned late last week as chief of the Special Sub-Prosecutor for Investigating Organized Delinquency (SIEDO), as part of a law enforcement shake-up by President Felipe Calderón. A US State Department statement welcomed the reorganization as part of the Mérida Initiative. (AP, El Informador, Mexico, Aug. 5; Milenio, Mexico, Aug. 3)

An Aug. 5 confrontation between the campesino group "Padre Guadalupe Carney" and landowners left at least nine dead at El Tilín, in the Honduran Caribbean coastal department of Colón. The Honduran Security Secretariat said some 200 armed peasants attacked the property of local police commander Henry Sorto, burning buildings, in a dispute over contested lands. Campesino militants also blocked roads, barring security forces access to the seized property. Campesino leader Rafael Alegría in a statement issued to the media called upon the national authorities to appoint a commission to mediate the conflict. (El Heraldo, Honduras, Aug. 6)

Georgia is calling home 1,000 of its 2,000 troops in Iraq for a general mobilization to fight Russian-backed separatists in South Ossetia. Georgia's national security chief Kakha Lomaia said Tbilisi ordered the withdrawal to "defend ourselves from Russian aggression." (AGI, Aug. 8) Late Aug. 8, Georgian officials reported at least one Russian air-strike, on the Black Sea port of Poti. They said Russian bombers were flying over Georgian territory and that the presidential offices and residence in Tbilisi had been evacuated. (NYT, Aug. 9)

Several separatist leaders are under house arrest in India-controlled Kashmir, as a complete general strike has paralyzed Srinagar for four days following the death of a protesting youth in the city Aug. 5. Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabir Ahmad Shah were placed under house arrest to prevent their proposed march to the headquarters of the UN Military Observers Group (UNMOG). (Indo-Asian News Service, Aug. 8)

The international community is condemning the Aug. 6 military ouster of Mauritania's President Sidi Mohamed ould Cheikh Abdallahi and Prime Minister Yahya ould Ahmed Waghf. The coup started just hours after a presidential decree that declared the dismissal of Mauritania's top four military leaders. By the morning, soldiers had barricaded and occupied the presidential palace. Coup leaders announced the creation of a state council to be led by head of the presidential guard, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz—who told the reporters the takeover was not a coup, but rather an attempt to restore security. He cited security problems, including terrorism, that only the army is capable of eradicating.

Georgia declared a cease-fire following an outburst of heavy fighting with separatist forces in the breakaway region of South Ossetia Aug. 7. Georgia is blaming Russia for the escalation of violence. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in televised remarks: "The Russian peacekeeping forces told us several hours ago that they have totally lost control over the separatist forces. We are in permanent contact with the Russian Foreign Ministry, but it fails to convince the separatist[s] to cease fire." Moscow has not yet responded to the claim.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez signed 26 new laws regulating the armed forces, public administration, social security system, banks, agricultural production, and the tourism industry on July 31—the final day of the 18-month period during which the National Assembly granted Chávez the power to pass laws by decree. The government says the laws seek to increase state management of "strategic" sectors and public institutions considered vital for progress toward "21st Century Socialism."