Growing political conflicts over development projects have prompted security forces to intervene in recent weeks in Ecuador. In the small hours of Oct. 8, military and police invaded the community of Río Grande, in coastal Manabí province, to evict a protest encampment that had been established by local comuneros of the Montubio ethnic group to resist construction of dam. Police say that the operation took place peacefully, but the comuneros report that tear gas was used and the protesters, including women and children, were assaulted. Protest leader Alfredo Zambrano reportedly suffered head wounds when he was detained. Four others were also detained, and all are still being held.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 28:

S.F. crash badly injures person in wheelchair
SAN FRANCISCO — A person in a wheelchair suffered life-threatening injuries today after being hit by a pickup truck in a South of Market intersection, San Francisco police said.

Radio Australia has released video coverage of an Oct. 19 attack by Indonesian security forces on an unarmed political meeting of indigenous leaders in West Papua after they issued a declaration of independence. Six people were killed and many more were injured after army troops and police Mobile Brigades broke up the meeting of the Third Papuan People's Congress in the provincial capital Jayapura. Police said their troops fired "warning shots" to disperse the crowd of thousands, and said the Congress "violated the permit" by issuing the declaration. But Congress leaders charge the deadly repression was a premeditated response to the declaration of independence and call for a West Papua government to be elected. Some 300 were arrested, and six have been charged with treason.

An Argentine court on Oct. 26 sentenced 12 former military and police officers to life in prison for crimes against humanity. The defendants were convicted of various crimes that took place in the Naval Mechanics School (ESMA), which was used by the former military dictatorship as a torture chamber. Argentina's military junta used the location throughout the dictatorship's 1976-1983 "Dirty War," during which more than 13,000 people were killed. Alfredo Astiz AKA the "Angel of Death" was one of the officers that received a life sentence. Astiz is a former navy spy for the dictatorship who was convicted of the murder of two French nuns, a journalist and three human rights activists. Four additional defendants were also convicted, with their sentences ranging from 18 to 25 years in prison.

If reports on the recent two-part BBC documentary "Secret Pakistan" are to be believed, Pakistan's security service is providing weapons, training and logistical support to Taliban insurgents fighting US and British troops in Afghanistan, despite official denials. A number of middle-ranking Taliban commanders revealed the extent of Pakistani support in interviews for the documentary, the first part of which was broadcast Oct. 26. One purported insurgent commander, Mullah Qaseem, told the BBC: "Pakistan plays a significant role. First they support us by providing a place to hide which is really important. Secondly they provide us with weapons." Another commander, Mullah Azizullah, said the men overseeing the training are members of Islamabad's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), or are closely linked to it: "They are all the ISI's men. They are the ones who run the training. First they train us about bombs; then they give us practical guidance." (Reuters, Oct. 26)

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Oct. 25 reinstated a lawsuit by Papua New Guinea citizens against mining company Rio Tinto on claims of genocide and war crimes. Allowing the suit under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the court ruled that it may proceed due to the Australian mining company's substantial operations in the US. Rejecting several attempts by the company to block the suit, it also ruled that a corporation can be held liable for genocide:

Police fired tear gas late Oct. 25 into a crowd of several hundred protesters backing the Occupy movement who had attempted to retake an encampment outside Oakland City Hall that officers had cleared 12 hours earlier. Police forces from throughout the Bay Area were mobilized for the pre-dawn eviction, which was carried out with smoke grenades, with 75 arrested. Authorities cited "sanitary and public safety concerns" in the eviction. In the evening, hundreds of protesters met outside the public library, a few blocks to the east, and then marched on the police-held Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall—which the protesters had renamed Oscar Grant Plaza. An online video shows police repeatedly firing tear-gas canisters into the crowd. As we write, the plaza remains in police hands, with helicopters circling above, while protesters are regrouping again at San Pablo Ave. to the west. (Gawker, San Francisco Chronicle, IndyBay, Oct. 25)

Honduran and international human rights and grassroots organizations announced on Oct. 21 that they were forming a center to monitor and prevent rights violations in northern Honduras' Lower Aguán Valley, where dozens of people have been killed over the past two years in land conflicts. The Human Rights Monitoring Center for the Aguán is scheduled to open on Nov. 11; it will be based in the city of Tocoa, Colón department.