Human Wrongs Watch

By Johan Galtung*, 3 Sep 2012, TRANSCEND –  The Israeli attack seems imminent. Richard Silverstein circulates a leaked “shock and awe” strategy of Netanyahu‑Barak hard zionism to decapitate, paralyze Iran; and Alon Ben‑Meir (an expert on Middle East politics specializing in…

In a message implicitly addressed to Iran for its repeated threats against Israel and which might also have been indirectly referring to Tel Aviv’s reported plans to launch a military attack on Iran, the UN chief condemned in Tehran “threats…

The Israel public has been bombarded with hawkish statements regarding the situation with Iran and the drum roll of war is echoing in the ears of every Israeli citizen, according to local peace and disarmament campaigners. The Israeli government has…

For a couple of hundred dollars or less an arms dealer can illegally source a blank end user certificate with the required signatures and stamps – needed to transfer weapons across international borders – and “if no one checks its authenticity (often the case) he can ship his wares to the world’s hotspots with minimal risk, for maximum profit,” said the SAS in 2008.

Thousands of peoples from Haiti and other Caribbean countries have been risking their lives trying to escape by sea from difficult living situations in their homelands, the [UN](http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42470&Cr=haiti&Cr1=) warns.

The annual turnover of transnational organized criminal activities such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting, illegal arms trade and the smuggling of immigrants is estimated at around $870 billion, the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

Athens – The Greek authorities are failing to tackle a rising wave of xenophobic violence that has left migrants afraid to walk the streets, says a [Human Rights Watch report](http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/10/greece-migrants-describe-fear-streets).

Around three years ago, the U.S-born world financial crisis forced five European Union member countries to receive a really little honorable “title” — the PIGS. These were Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. With Ireland added to the group, the acronym became PIIGS. More recently came Cyprus, the current EU president.

If added together, there would be a nation of nearly 700 million people—the third most populated one on Earth after China and India. Its population is made of over 210 million jobless, 215 million children obliged to work; 21 million victims of forced labor, and 228 million working poor youth living on less than the equivalent of US$ 2 per day.

More than 140 countries have passed counterterrorism laws since the attacks of September 11, 2001, often with little regard for due process and other basic rights, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.
The 112-page report, “In the Name of Security: Counterterrorism Laws Worldwide since September 11,” says that while terrorist attacks have caused thousands (read more)…