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Civil disobedience in Sodom – A letter to Xu Zhiyong

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(September 18, 2013) Guo Yushan, a longtime friend and colleague of high-profile Chinese human rights activist Xu Zhiyong, penned a grand and robust entreaty to Xu in late July (translated here into English), urging Xu to stand his ground as he awaits trial for “assembling a crowd to disrupt order in a public place.” In reality, Xu, a well-known lawyer and founder of China’s fledgling “New Citizens’ Movement”, had called on officials to disclose their financial assets as it is thought assets disclosure will reveal the true level of corruption among government officials who exploit their political power for personal gain. In his letter, Guo likens Xu to Socrates facing the wrath of Athens and China to the disgraced biblical city of Sodom, and exhorts Xu to rise to his fate as an idealist, unrepentant — “let them charge you, let them torture you”.

Is the UN responsible for the deaths of 6,000-plus Haitians?

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(September 12, 2013) The U.N., in addition to not issuing an apology, has never accepted responsibility for the deadly epidemic that has killed more than 8,260 and sickened over 675,000 in the last three years writes Washington-based think tank, The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

China faces its worst economic crisis: water

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(July 3, 2013) Water woes ranging from polluted drinking water to contaminated groundwater reserves and toxic rivers, to cross-border water disputes with neighbours over transboundary river flows, is moving China towards a catastrophe with “profound implications.” In testimony to the U.S. Senate last week, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia director Elizabeth Economy names industry as the key culprit. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.com reports.

Giant landslide likely caused by Xiluodu Dam impoundment, says Chinese geologist

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(July 30, 2013) Fan Xiao, a Chinese geologist and chief engineer of the Regional Geological Survey Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau, says analysis of the recent landslide in Yunnan Province indicates that impoundment of the nearby Xiluodu Dam reservoir most likely caused the event and that more can be expected when the reservoir is filled again. Sharply rising or rapidly falling reservoir water levels pose a threat to geological stability, he says, and can trigger disaster.

Beijing social think-tank shut down amid crackdown

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(July 20, 2013) On the heels of anti-graft campaigner Xu Zhiyong’s detention, authorities continue to get tough on rights activists as they endure another wallop of repression, shutting down a Beijing-based think tank. The move is seen as payback for activists who have called on government leaders to declare their assets, and on lawyers who defend “sensitive” cases.

Indigenous leader killed in resistance fight over Honduras mega-dam

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(July 17, 2013) Tomás Garcia, a leader of the indigenous Lenca community in Honduras, was fatally shot on Monday, and his son Alan seriously injured, when members of the Honduran Army began firing indiscriminately at a demonstration protesting the construction of the 22-megawatt Agua Zarca Dam already underway on the Gualcaeque River in the country’s southwest. International Rivers reports.

Massive new dams remind China of human price of ‘tofu constructions’

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(July 20, 2013) China is on the cusp of another dam-building binge. Nowhere is the aggressive dam push raising more eyebrows than in the country’s southwest. Last year, a report by the environmental group Probe International said of the 130 proposed dams on rivers in the region, nearly 50 per cent “are located in zones of high to very high seismic hazard.”

Indian high court splits trial charge sheet in SNC-Lavalin graft case

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(June 27, 2013) The Kerala High Court has directed India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to divide the SNC-Lavalin trial charge sheet so the trial can begin. Two of the nine accused, SNC-Lavalin VP Klaus Triendl and SNC-Lavalin itself, have failed to appear in court despite several summons. According to press reports, Indian authorities are now seeking the extradition of Mr. Triendl, but Canada’s Department of Justice won’t confirm or deny the existence of the extradition request “due to the confidential nature of state-to-state communications.”

Chile’s Bachelet says Patagonia dams not viable

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(June 26, 2013) Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, who hopes to regain power at election time later this year, has come out against Chile’s HidroAysén mega-dam scheme. Most Chileans also oppose the controversial plan that would flood globally rare forest ecosystems, river valleys and farmlands in the country’s southern Aysén region and tame two of the world’s wildest rivers. In a complete about-face from her stance as President, Bachelet openly declared her opposition to the five planned dams in Patagonia in a televised debate.