Argentine ‘Dirty War’ Murderer Gets Life

Staff / Truthdig Jul 25, 2008 Former Argentine army officer and current scumbag Luciano Benjamin Menendez finally got what should have happened to him 30 years ago: a life sentence in jail for the kidnap, torture and murder of anti-dictatorship activists in 1977. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

China to Allow ‘Protest Lite’

Staff / Truthdig Jul 23, 2008 Taking cues from past Olympic protests and the U.S.'s notoriously ironic "free speech zones," the Chinese government has declared its openness to dissidents criticizing the state -- so long as dissent is contained in one of three areas, does not threaten vague notions of national unity, and is submitted five days beforehand to the local security bureau. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Canada’s Slight Detour

Tab, The Calgary Sun Jul 21, 2008 Dig deeper

Colombia: Celebrate the Release, Not the Regime

Amy Goodman / Truthdig Jul 10, 2008 It is fantastic to see Ingrid Betancourt free, but the celebration of her release should not be confused with celebration of the Colombian government. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Canada to Apologize to Indigenous Groups

Staff / Truthdig Jun 11, 2008 Following a similar move by Australia earlier this year, Canada's prime minister will offer a formal apology to the country's indigenous peoples for the state's unjust treatment of them, most notably the forced enrollment of more than 100,000 native students in state-funded Christian boarding schools aimed at assimilating them into white society. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Probe Reopened in ’73 Murder of Chilean Singer

Staff / Truthdig Jun 4, 2008 The case of Victor Jara, the famous folk musician murdered by dictator Augusto Pinochet's army in 1973, will be reopened due to new evidence provided by the musician's family. Human rights groups see Jara's case as important in keeping attention on Chilean human rights abusers who for the past 35 years have avoided jail time. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mugabe Plays Politics … With Everything

Staff / Truthdig Jun 4, 2008 From detaining his opponent while in the middle of a runoff election campaign to suspending international aid operations due to groups' alleged bias against the government, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has stopped at nothing to keep himself in power. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Egyptian Blogger Endured ‘Weeks of Torture and Humiliation’

Staff / Truthdig Jun 3, 2008 An Egyptian blogger, Karim el-Beheiri, who was arrested with two former co-workers from Mahalla's Misr Spinning and Weaving company (all three were fired after their arrest) on April 6 and released Sunday, said he and his colleagues were shocked, beaten and denied sustenance during their ordeal behind bars. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ex-NBA Star: Olympians Should Speak About Human Rights in China

Staff / Truthdig May 31, 2008 John Amaechi is not your typical basketball star. The former center for Utah, Orlando and Cleveland is the first NBA alumnus to openly declare that he's gay, and now he's combining sports and cultural politics in another sense by serving as Amnesty International's sports ambassador to this summer's Beijing Olympics. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Amnesty International Points to 60 Years of Failure

Staff / Truthdig May 28, 2008 World leaders are about to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, but leading human rights organization Amnesty International says they should first apologize for failing to tackle widespread abuses around the world. The group's annual report cites 81 countries for torture or maltreatment and chastises the United States for setting such a poor example. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.N. to Resume Burma Aid

Staff / Truthdig May 9, 2008 The U.N. has announced it will resume aid to Burma after conflicts over how food and equipment were to be distributed grounded relief flights. Cyclone Nargis has killed at least 22,000 Burmese, and the ruling junta has been categorically criticized for its ineptitude in dealing with the disaster. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Releases Journalist After 6 Years

Staff / Truthdig May 2, 2008 Sami al-Haj, a cameraman for Al-Jazeera, was released Thursday evening after spending almost seven years in U.S. custody, six of those as an inmate at Guantanamo Bay. Haj was never charged with any crime, nor was any evidence against him ever revealed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )