Human rights activists and legal experts reacted swiftly Sept. 14 to disclosures that the US government is planning to introduce new measures officials claim would give inmates at Afghanistan's notorious Bagram prison more opportunities to challenge their detention. Their views range from cautious optimism to total condemnation.

Israeli soldiers used tear gas against anti-wall protests in the West Bank villages of both Nilin and Bilin Sept. 11. In Nilin, several protesters reportedly vomited after breathing the gas. The weekly Friday anti-wall protest at Bilin was cut off by IDF armored vehicles. Troops also used sound bombs to disperse the peaceful protesters. (Maan News Agency, Maan News Agency, Sept 12)

Several Israeli military vehicles entered the Gaza Strip near al-Bureij refugee camp Sept. 12, according to local Palestinian sources. Eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli military force penetrated 60 meters into the Strip and opened fire on Palestinian homes. Helicopters were seen flying overhead of the invading forces, appearing to give cover to the ground troops. The soldiers detained a farm guard, identified as Salah Tawil, who was released some hours later following an interrogation. (Maan News Agency, Sept 12)

Thousands of students marched in the northwestern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on Aug. 28 to protest plans to reinstitute compulsory military service. "The current government isn't legitimate, " student leaders said, referring to the de facto government put in place by a June 28 military coup, "and we don't want to waste time; we want to study." The draft was replaced by voluntary service under former president Roberto Reina (1994-1998), but de facto president Roberto Micheletti's administration is reportedly seeking to bring it back. Jaime Guifarro, student council president at the Technological Institute of Business Administration (INTAE), said the plan was "a step backwards for Honduras" and would hurt "the poor, not the children of the rich."

On Sept. 3 US secretary of state Hillary Clinton held a meeting in Washington, DC with Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who was removed from office on June 28 in a military coup. Shortly after the meeting, the State Department announced that the US was taking three steps that would send a "very clear message" to the de facto regime: the cancellation of all non-humanitarian aid, the revocation of the visas of members of the de facto government, and a warning that the US would not recognize the results of the scheduled Nov. 29 general elections if they are held under the current conditions.

The Canadian mining company Goldcorp Inc is continuing to press charges against five indigenous Mam in connection with a June 12 incident in which a pickup truck and an exploration drill rig were set on fire at the Marlin gold mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán municipality in the western Guatemalan department of San Marcos. An arraignment was scheduled for the San Marcos courts in the city of San Marcos on Sept. 7. According to the Canadian-based Rights Action organization, 98% of crimes go unpunished in Guatemala.

On Sept. 4 Ecuadorian judge Juan Evangelista Núñez recused himself from presiding over a $27 billion lawsuit brought by indigenous Ecuadorians against the US-based Chevron Corporation for environmental damage by the Texaco oil company, which Chevron acquired in 2001. Núñez's decision came as several branches of the Ecuadorian government announced investigations stemming from videos Chevron released on Aug. 31. The company claims the videos show the judge meeting with parties to the suit and saying that he had already made up his mind to rule against Chevron. The company also claims the videos contained evidence that bribes were discussed.

In the early 1960s, Hugo Blanco launched Peru's first agrarian reform, as an initiative of self-organized campesinos in the valleys of La Convención and Lares in Cuzco department, where an oppressive feudalistic share-cropping system had been in place for generations. When this movement to take back the land was met with repression, he formed a campesino self-defense militia which was the first armed struggle of the radical left in Peru. Captured and sentenced to life in prison in 1962, he was released and exiled following the populist military coup of Gen. Juan Velasco eight years later. He returned to Peru to participate in crafting the new constitution when civilian rule was restored in 1978. In 1980, he was a presidential candidate, and was serving as a senator with the United Left party when he again had to flee the country with Alberto Fujimori's suspension of democratic rule in 1992. He today publishes the journal Lucha Indigena, and is a leading voice in support of the indigenous movement in Peru's Amazon.