Murder

Trial Of Eight Accused Of Murdering Honduran Activist In Chaos

November 5, 2018 By Nina Lakhani, Theguardian.com Educate! Activists, Berta Caceres, Honduras, Indigenous Peoples, Murder

The trial of eight men accused over the murder of Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres has been thrown into disarray after judges ousted the victim’s lawyers from proceedings. The legally suspect ruling in the country’s most high-profile case leaves the verdict vulnerable to appeal. The case is considered a litmus test for the justice system which has received millions of dollars of international aid in recent years Cáceres, who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot dead just before midnight on 2 March 2016 at her home in La Esperanza, in western Honduras, after a long battle against the internationally financed Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project on the Gualcarque river, territory sacred to the indigenous Lenca people.

Honduran Prosecutors Withhold Evidence In Berta Cáceres Murder Case

August 23, 2018 Sandra Cuffe, Truthout.org Resist! Activists, Berta Caceres, Honduras, Murder, Repression

The trial of eight men charged with the murder of Honduran activist Berta Cáceres is right around the corner, but prosecutors may be heading to trial without important evidence. More than two dozen electronic devices seized in related raids as far back as 2016 were never subjected to analysis, according to an official response to Cáceres’s relatives from the Office of the Prosecutor for Crimes Against Life, a document that has not yet been made public. Cáceres’s daughter Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres does not believe it was an oversight or lack of professionalism. Now serving as the general coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), the organization her mother co-founded and led at the time of her murder, Zúñiga Cáceres views the revelations about the gaps in evidence as part of a strategy.

Farmers In America Are Killing Themselves In Staggering Numbers

June 29, 2018 By Irina Ivanova, Cbsnews.com Educate! Farming, Murder

"Think about trying to live today on the income you had 15 years ago." That's how agriculture expert Chris Hurt describes the plight facing U.S. farmers today. The unequal economy that's emerged over the past decade, combined with patchy access to health care in rural areas, have had a severe impact on the people growing America's food. Recent data shows just how much. Farmers are dying by suicide at a higher rate than any other occupational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The suicide rate in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5 per 100,000 people -- more than five times that of the population as a whole. That's even as the nation overall has seen an increase in suicide rates over the last 30 years.

Mumia Abu Jamal And Stephen Vittoria: Murder Incorporated

June 20, 2018 David Swanson, Davidswanson.org Educate! Books, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Murder

Book One, “Dreaming of Empire,” is a critique of U.S. imperialism, a debunking of U.S. nationalist myths, a corrective or alternative history of the U.S. nation. Politically, a book like this would never be permitted in U.S. schools, and it’s clearly not aimed at clearing that hurdle. It uses curse words, which would provide a handy excuse for keeping it out. It’s also not straight history. It’s part chronological, part theme-based. It mixes historical accounts with pop-culture, with quotations from scholars, historical sources, and analysts interviewed by the authors. Dreaming of Empire also does not try to leave the past in the past. Instead it proposes to explain current wars, the weaponization of outer space, and the rhetoric of contemporary U.S. politics through a myth-busting hard look at the past.

The Washington Post’s ‘Breakthrough’ On The MLK Murder

April 12, 2018 William F. Pepper and Andrew Kreig, Consortiumnews.com Educate! MLK, Murder, Racism

For the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder, The Washington Post last week overcame its tainted history of softball coverage and published a hard-hitting account quoting the King family’s disbelief in the guilt of convicted killer James Earl Ray. The bold, top-of-the-front-page treatment on April 2 of reporter Tom Jackman’s in-depth piece—“The Past Rediscovered: Who killed Martin Luther King Jr.?” — represents a major turning point in the treatment of the case for the past five decades by mainstream media. Print, broadcast and all too many film makers and academics have consistently soft-pedaled ballistic, eye-witness and other evidence that undermines the official story of King’s death. This time, the Post and Jackman, an experienced reporter, undertook bold but long overdue initiative.

At Least 197 Eco-Defenders Murdered In 2017

February 6, 2018 By John R. Platt, Therevelator.org Educate! Activists, Environment, Murder, Repression

The deaths included farmers murdered by soldiers while defending their ancestral lands from coffee plantations in the Philippines; an indigenous leader allegedly killed by rebels in Colombia; and wildlife rangers slain by poachers in multiple countries. One of the most infamous cases was the January 15, 2017 murder of Isidro Baldenegro López, an indigenous activist in Mexico who had earlier won the Goldman Environmental Prize for standing up to illegal logging. Mexico is now the fourth most dangerous countries for land-defenders, with 15 murders in 2017, according to Global Witness. Latin America overall was considered the deadliest part of the world for activists. Brazil had the highest number of murders, 46, followed by Colombia with 42. The Philippines was a close third with 41 reported homicides.

Colombia: Paramilitaries Kill Land Rights Activist

December 11, 2017 Staff, telesurtv.net Educate! Activists, Colombia, Human Rights, Land Rights, Murder

Hernan Bedoya was the second activist from the group, Communities Constructing Peace, Conpaz, to be killed in 10 days. Another land rights activists, Hernan Bedoya, was killed by hired paramilitary members in a rural sector of the Choco Department in Colombia. Bedoya was the second activist from the group, Communities Constructing Peace, Conpaz, to be killed in 10 days. The Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AGC, took responsibility for shooting Bedoya 14 times as he was traveling home by horse. The Colombian human rights groups, The People’s Defense and the Intercelestial Commission for Justice and Peace in Colombia, announced the killing on their twitter accounts and called for authorities to “quickly investigate” the killing. The AGC continually threatened the Conpaz activist since 2015 for his work in trying to protect Conpaz members’ communal lands from the company, Association of Agroindustrial Campesinos, Agromar, an industrial African palm and banana producer and exporter.

Investigation Links Berta Cáceres’s Assassination To Honduran Capitalists

November 2, 2017 Staff, ecowatch.com Resist! Activists, Assassination, Berta Caceres, Energy, Honduras, Murder, Repression

By Staff of Democracy Now - We look at shocking revelations released Tuesday that link the assassination of renowned Honduran indigenous environmental leader Berta Cáceres to the highest levels of the company whose hydroelectric dam project she and her indigenous Lenca community were protesting. We speak with New York Times reporter Elisabeth Malkin, who has read the new report by a team of five international lawyers who found evidence that the plot to kill Cáceres went up to the top of the Honduran energy company behind the dam, Desarrollos Energéticos, known as "DESA." The lawyers were selected by Cáceres's daughter Bertha Zúniga and are independent of the Honduran government's ongoing official investigation. They examined some 40,000 pages of text messages. The investigation also revealed DESA exercised control over security forces in the area, issuing directives and paying for police units' room, board and equipment

How CIA Got Away With Murdering Revolutionary Che Guevara

October 10, 2017 Ramona Wadi, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Activists, CIA, Murder, Repression

By Ramona Wadi for Mint Press News - Che Guevara’s body was uncovered from beneath a Bolivian landing strip 10 years after his death, but the truth behind how his body ended up in that secret burial location wouldn’t surface for several decades. Ernesto Che Guevara’s words on guerrilla warfare become particularly resonant on the anniversary of his death on Oct. 9, 1967, when he was murdered at the hands of the CIA and the Bolivian government. At the time of Che’s murder, U.S. intentions were to stifle the internationalist aspect of the Cuban Revolution – an attempt not only to destroy Che, but also to weaken Fidel Castro. Decades later, Che remains a source of inspiration evoked by many including Fidel, and the Cuban Revolution remains committed to its aims and anti-imperialist ideology. Che’s dedication to internationalist revolutionary struggle had been evident from the early years of the struggle to bring down the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. His inclusion in the revolutionary 26th of July Movement headed by Fidel was based upon an understanding that when the Cuban Revolution was consolidated, Che would earn the freedom to impart revolution wherever his efforts were needed. The sentiment was expressed in his farewell letter to Fidel, dated April 1, 1965, in which Che formally renounced his leadership positions and Cuban citizenship in order to pursue internationalist revolution elsewhere around the world.

Six Things To Know About Mass Shootings In America

October 3, 2017 Frederic Lemieux, www.theconversation.com Educate! Mass Shootings, Murder, Shooting, United States

By Frederic Lemieux for Conversation - America has experienced yet another mass shooting, this time at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is reportedly the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. As a criminologist, I have reviewed recent research in hopes of debunking some of the common misconceptions I hear creeping into discussions that spring up whenever a mass shooting occurs. Here’s some recent scholarship about mass shootings that should help you identify misinformation when you hear it. A study I conducted on mass shootings indicated that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Mass shootings also took place in 25 other wealthy nations between 1983 and 2013, but the number of mass shootings in the United States far surpasses that of any other country included in the study during the same period of time. The U.S. had 78 mass shootings during that 30-year period. The highest number of mass shootings experienced outside the United States was in Germany – where seven shootings occurred. In the other 24 industrialized countries taken together, 41 mass shootings took place. In other words, the U.S. had nearly double the number of mass shootings than all other 24 countries combined in the same 30-year period.

Environmental Defenders Being Killed In Record Numbers Globally

July 19, 2017 Jonathan Watts and John Vidal, www.theguardian.com Educate! Activists, Environment, Murder

By Jonathan Watts and John Vidal for The Guardian - Last year was the most perilous ever for people defending their community’s land, natural resources or wildlife, with new research showing that environmental defenders are being killed at the rate of almost four a week across the world. Two hundred environmental activists, wildlife rangers and indigenous leaders trying to protect their land were killed in 2016, according to the watchdog group Global Witness – more than double the number killed five years ago. And the frequency of killings is only increasing as 2017 ticks by, according to data provided exclusively to the Guardian, with 98 killings identified in the first five months of this year. John Knox, UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, said: “Human rights are being jettisoned as a culture of impunity is developing. “There is now an overwhelming incentive to wreck the environment for economic reasons. The people most at risk are people who are already marginalised and excluded from politics and judicial redress, and are dependent on the environment. The countries do not respect the rule of law. Everywhere in the world, defenders are facing threats. “There is an epidemic now, a culture of impunity, a sense that anyone can kill environmental defenders without repercussions, eliminate anyone who stands in the way. It [comes from] mining, agribusiness, illegal logging and dam building.”

‘We All Know Someone’ Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women

April 11, 2017 Mary Annette Pember, www.rewire.news Educate! Disappearances, Indigenous Women, Murder

By Mary Annette Pember for Rewire - "It’s a hard struggle when a member of your family passes away. But this Day of Awareness can mean that her memory will live on forever.” This piece is published in partnership with the Indian Country Media Network. You can read other pieces about the missing and murdered Native women in the United States and Canada here. On February 15, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), the Indian Law Resource Center, and the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center co-sponsored a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). The briefing, titled “Moving Ahead in Addressing Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Efforts to Address Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls...

Protesters In DC Confront Honduran President Over Berta Cáceres Murder

March 22, 2017 Lauren Gambino, www.theguardian.com Resist! Berta Caceres, Honduras, Murder, Protests, Washington DC

By Lauren Gambino for The Guardian - Supporters and family members of Berta Cáceres, the Honduran environmental and indigenous rights activist who was assassinated last year, have confronted the country’s president in Washington to demand an independent investigation of her murder. President Juan Orlando Hernández traveled to Washington to meet with lawmakers on Tuesday and was greeted by protesters carrying signs with photographs of murdered activists and chants of “asesino” – Spanish for murderer. Cáceres was one of more than 120 land and environmental campaigners murdered since a military-backed coup d’état...

Trump’s National Security Adviser Facilitated Murder Of Civilians In Afghanistan

November 26, 2016 Gareth Porter, www.informationclearinghouse.info Educate! Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Murder, National Security

By Gareth Porter for Information Clearing House - November 25, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "Real News" - After retired Lt. Gen. Michael J. Flynn spoke at the Republican National Convention, The Washington Post captured the prevailing media view of Flynn in the headline: “He was one of the most respected intel officers of his generation. Now he’s leading ‘Lock her up’ chants.” Now that President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Flynn as his national security adviser, media coverage has given prominence to the more serious issue of Flynn’s denunciation of Islam as a “cancer”...

Opposition Leaders Murdered In Honduras While US Supports Gov

November 1, 2016 Mark Weisbrot, www.thehill.com Organize! Honduras, Murder, US Foreign Policy

By Mark Weisbrot for The Hill - Since a 2009 military coup against the democratic government of President Mel Zelaya, Honduras has become the most dangerous country in the world for environmental and human rights activists. On Oct. 17, two more prominent rural organizers, José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George, were assassinated in Colón. Flores was the president of the Unified Campesinos Movement of the Aguán Valley (MUCA), and George was a well-known leader from the same organization.

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