On August 27, in an event in Mexico City, the Cerezo Committee Mexico celebrated its ninth annivesary as an organisation in defence of human rights, and also presented its new report Prison: a form of criminalisation of social protest in Mexico (2002-2008). Emilio Álvarez Icaza, human rights specialist, has described the report as “basic material for any political debate about justice”.

Juan Manuel Santos has made a refreshing start as Colombia’s president by departing from the policies of his predecessor, Álvaro Uribe. But to map a new political direction he will need support from uncertain allies, says Adam Isacson.

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Mexico City, August 2010

While visiting Mexico from 4 to 7 August 2010, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyng-wha Kang, met with representatives of civil society organizations who submited to her consideration a brief report on some of the most pressing issues related to Human Rights in Mexico.

Due to serious, repeated attacks against him, PBI has received and accepted a request for accompaniment for the Catholic priest Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, director of the Hermanos en el Camino Migrant Shelter. The request was submitted by the Dimensión Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana, a Mexican Catholic Church body which deals with migration.

Read the <media 6686>full announcement</media>

The scale of U.S. training and equipping of other nations’ militaries has grown exponentially since 2001, but there are major concerns about the extent to which the U.S. government is implementing the laws and monitoring the impact its military aid is having on human rights. This report by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and U.S. Office on Colombia examines these issues through a detailed case study of U.S. military aid, human rights abuses, and implementation of human rights law in Colombia.