Human Rights

A Look Inside Brazil's Drug "Commands"

Brazil, Latin America's largest and most populous nation gets surprisingly little press in the US. The mass media paid some attention back in May, when the country's "commands"--the criminal gangs formed in Brazil's prisons that control the drug trade and act as a de facto government in some of the favelas (ghettos) surrounding Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro--rose up in open rebellion against the Brazilian state. But since then, the silence in the US press has been deafening.

Anti-Prohibitionist Candidates Challenge New York Status Quo (FEATURE)

A comic turned activist and a madam turned convict are throwing a splash of color into an otherwise lackluster New York state campaign season. And they're doing it with a consistent anti-prohibitionist message.

Plan Colombia: Ten Years Later

Ten years ago this week, President Bill Clinton signed off on the first $1.3 billion installment of Plan Colombia. A decade later, how is that working out? We ask the experts.

Death Penalty: Iran Goes On Drug Offender Execution Binge

Iranian hangmen have been keeping busy in recent weeks as some 30 drug offenders have been executed since May 23. Maybe it's time to ramp up that campaign against the death penalty for drug offenses.

Feature: Jamaica Rocked As Kingston Drug Gangs Fight Police and Army -- At Least 73 Dead

This week's outbreak of violence between supporters of a drug gang leader and Jamaican police and soldiers in the Kingston slum neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens reveals not only the weakness of the Jamaican state, but also some usually obscure links between politicians and the underworld.

Southeast Asia: Not Executing Drug Offenders Sends Wrong Signal, Singapore Says

Singapore's law minister justifies the mandatory death penalty for drug offenders. Unlike the rest of us losers, Singapore hasn't lost the war on drugs, he said.

Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update

Things that make you go hmmm... In one incident in Mexico this week, gunmen attacked a convoy carrying two prisoners. In the aftermath, the two prisoners were turned over to the Mexican Marines. Next thing you know, one of them turns up dead on the side of a road and the other has gone missing. Hmmm.

Latin America: Mexico's Drug War Stirs Opposition in the Streets and from the Bishops

Mexican President Felipe Calderon caught serious flak this week from two different directions: Angry residents of Ciudad JuÃ¡rez, tired of the killing and the soldiers, and the Mexican Catholic Church, which issued a report critical of human rights abuses in the military and crooked law enforcement.

Feature: El Paso City Council Passes Resolution Criticizing Drug War, But Only After Killing Marijuana Regulation Language

In 1913, the El Paso city council became the first in the country to outlaw marijuana. Now, faced with the horrendous prohibition-related violence across the river in Ciudad Juarez, it has passed a resolution condemning current drug policies, but only after dropping language calling for marijuana regulation. It's got three years left until the century mark to get it completely right.

Southeast Asia: Human Rights Watch Charges Torture, Rape, Illegal Detentions at Cambodian Drug "Rehab" Centers, Demands Shutdown

Cambodia's "drug treatment" centers are the scene of torture, rape, and abuse, said Human Rights Watch in a scathing report Monday calling for them to be shut down. Oh, and they don't do much drug treatment, either.

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