Our December issue featured the story (reprinted from our sibling publication Toward Freedom) "Nuclear-Free Central Asia: A Model for the Korean Peninsula?" by Rene Wadlow. It noted a real glimmer of hope in the terrifyingly bleak world situation: the repudiation of the logic of nuclear proliferation by the governments of a highly restive and militarized part of the planet. The Central Asian nuclear-free zone is bad news for the nuclear ambitions of super-powers (which seek to station atomic weapons in the region), as well as "rogue states" (which seek accomplices in their efforts to build atomic weapons) and terrorists (always happy to have more atomic weapons infrastructure to raid or pirate, especially in unstable regions). It is good news for the rest of us—the overwhelming majority of humanity. We can only hope that the two Koreas follow the Central Asian example.

From the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), Dec. 15:

To: Kurdistan Regional Government

International Campaign to remove Article No 7 from the Kurdistan regional constitution!

Article 7 of the proposed constitution for Kurdistan is an open threat to the rights and freedoms of the people.

On Dec. 12, some 1,000 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out simultaneous dawn raids at six meat processing plants in six states and arrested a total of 1,282 immigrant workers, most of them Latin American. (AP, Dec. 12, 14; ICE news release, Dec. 13) The raids took place on a day celebrated by Mexican Catholics as a day of action honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe. Many of the arrested workers had attended an early Mass before their shifts to celebrate the day. (Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Dec. 13)

From The Telegraph, Dec. 14, emphasis added:

Saudi Arabia would respond to an American withdrawal from Iraq by funding and arming Sunni insurgents to prevent them being massacred by Shia militias, the kingdom has told the White House.

From Afrol News, Dec. 11:

An Algiers bomb attack against oil workers that killed an Algerian driver and wounded nine people, including several Western citizens, has raised fears that Algeria's trend towards peace and stability may end. As the US Embassy in Algeria today advises Americans to review their personal security, foreign oil companies already have decided to invest into protection against terrorist attacks.

A press release from the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard, Dec. 13:

Retaliatory Attacks Also Kill Highlanders in Gambella Region
Cambridge, MA – Soldiers in the Ethiopian military have killed, raped, and otherwise abused hundreds of Anuak civilians in the Gambella region of the country, the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program said today.

Maria Antonieta Trinidad Ramirez del Valle, popularly known as La Trini, returned to the conflicted central Mexican village of San Salvador Atenco Nov. 25 after more than six months in clandestinity at an unknown location. She was accompanied by Don Samuel Ruiz, bishop emeritus of Chiapas who won national acclaim for brokering the dialogue with the Zapatista rebels. Her sons América and Alejandro del Valle remain in hiding. Another son, César del Valle, is incarcerated in the high-security prison at La Palma, as is her husband Ignacio del Valle. La Trini is director of the People's Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT), the group which has led protests against the confiscation of Atenco's farming lands for a new international airport. Her lawyer said judicial orders had been issued barring her arrest. Del Valle said that during her time in hiding, the family's home had been left "in ruins" when it was ransacked by the Federal Preventative Police. (La Jornada, Nov. 26 via Chiapas95 and Nov. 23 via El Porvenir)

From Human Rights Watch, Dec. 11:

The Iranian Judiciary should prosecute officials responsible for the arbitrary detention and alleged torture of several bloggers in 2004, instead of prosecuting the bloggers for expressing their opinions, Human Rights Watch said today.

On December 3, branch 1059 of Tehran's Judiciary commenced a trial against four men, Roozbeh Mirebrahimi, Shahram Rafizadeh, Omid Memarian, and Javad Gholam Tamimi, on charges of "participation in formation of groups to disturb national security," "propaganda against the state," "dissemination of disinformation to disturb public opinion by writing articles for newspapers and illegal internet sites," and "interviews with foreign radio broadcasts." The court has held one closed-door session, and the trial is scheduled to resume on December 17.