Active Citizens

Britain to Compensate Tortured Kenyans

By AJ Correspondents
Britain has agreed to compensate Kenyans tortured during the Mau Mau uprising against colonial rule in the 1950s, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.

Children Help Take Care of Havana Bay

By Ivet González
On a piece of paper, Jennifer Rivas draws a beach, with little girls carrying bags of trash and signs that say “Let’s take care of the environment.” The 10-year-old is part of an educational programme, Friends of the Bay, that involves 322 schools in the Cuban capital.

Gay Parents in Cuba Demand Legal Right to Adopt

By Ivet González
Many lesbians and gays in Cuba find different ways of achieving their dream of becoming mothers and fathers and forming families. But this is complicated in a country where neither civil unions nor adoption by non-heterosexual persons are legally recognised.

Mexico’s Desaparecidos: Unspoken, Unseen, Unknown

By Emilio Godoy
The last time Enrique Rangel heard his brother Héctor's voice was on the night of Nov. 10, 2009, when he called and said “they’re coming, they already stopped me and asked for money, and I already paid, but they’re coming.”

Guardians of the Land and Sea Meet in Darwin

By Milagros Salazar
“Are you a park ranger?” IPS asked. “No, I am one of the owners of the territory,” Ángel Durán responded in a firm voice. The Bolivian indigenous leader is in this northern Australian city along with 1,200 other native delegates from over 50 countries for the World Indigenous Network (WIN) conference.

Seeking Justice for Dictatorship Victims – Two Continents Apart

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
As news of the death of former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla in a prison cell spread around the world, Julia Parodi, who was in this South Korean city to receive the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights on behalf of HIJOS, said he died in the right place.

Mexican Communities Sue Pemex for Environmental Justice

By Emilio Godoy
Fed up with oil spills from facilities belonging to Mexico’s state oil company Pemex, residents of two communities in the southeastern state of Tabasco are taking the country’s largest company to court in a bid for compensation for damage to the environment and agriculture.

U.S. Retailers Holding Out on Bangladesh Safety Agreement

By Katelyn Fossett
Labour groups here are stepping up pressure on U.S. firms to sign a binding building safety agreement for Bangladeshi factories after 10 major European garment companies signed onto the landmark agreement.

Young Men Break with Machista Stereotypes in Ecuador

By Leisa Sánchez
At the age of 20, Damián Valencia speaks knowledgeably about every aspect of gender equality. He is a member of Cascos Rosa, a young people's initiative working for cultural change against machismo and violence against women in Ecuador.

First Class Action Lawsuit Against BP in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
A group of Mexican citizens are preparing the first civil lawsuit in the Mexican courts against British oil company BP for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Mexico’s Community Radio Stations Fight for Survival and Recognition

By Daniela Pastrana
Radio Totopo was founded in February 2006 in the Pescadores neighbourhood, the oldest and poorest part of the city of Juchitán in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. But the authorities closed it down in late March, even though Congress is debating a constitutional reform that would recognise community radio stations.

Imminent Outbreak of Violence on Brazilian Amazon Estate

By Fabíola Ortiz
A fresh outbreak of violence between large landowners and landless peasants is looming in the Amazonian state of Pará, in northern Brazil.

Waste Pickers in Colombia Earn Formal Recognition

By Constanza Vieira
Nora Padilla, one of the six winners of this year’s Goldman environmental prize, dedicates her days to organising informal recyclers in the Colombian capital, where the city’s eight million inhabitants are just now reluctantly starting to classify their garbage at source.

Clampdown on CSOs Worldwide

By Nalisha Adams
As Zimbabwe is expected to head to the polls in a little less than two months, clampdowns on civil society in that southern African nation have increased, according to Godwin Phiri, western region chairperson of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in Zimbabwe.

Austerity Leaves Domestic Violence Victims Stranded

By Claudia Ciobanu
Up to a quarter of women in Europe have experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives, according to the Council of Europe. But despite the widespread nature of the phenomenon, more often than not we ignore it. A short video launched last month in Serbia managed to break this silence.

Carbon Credits Could Finance Improved Cookstoves in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
Environmental organisations in Mexico are hoping to finance the promotion of fuel-efficient wood-fired cookstoves, which reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, through the sale of carbon credits on the voluntary market.

Trade Unions Fight Walmart in Mexico

By Emilio Godoy
Trade unions in Canada, the United States and Mexico are preparing protests and legal action against the Mexican subsidiary of Walmart, the world's largest retailer, which is accused of paying bribes and breaching labour rights.

Mining and Logging Companies “Leaving Chile without Water”

By Marianela Jarroud
More than 100 environmental, social and indigenous organisations protested Monday in the Chilean capital to demand that the state regain control over the management of water, which was privatised by the dictatorship in 1981.

Spain’s New Evictions Law “Protects Banks”

By Inés Benítez
A new mortgage bill approved by Spain’s lower house of parliament would merely put a bandaid on the plight of people whose homes are being repossessed, and would not guarantee protection for most families facing eviction, activists complain.

Activist Shareholders Slam Brazilian Mining Giant

By Fabíola Ortiz
Representatives of social movements and communities affected by Brazilian mining company Vale's operations have bought shares in the company, to make their voices heard.

Chilean Court Suspends Pascua Lama Mine

By Marianela Jarroud
Environmental groups and indigenous Diaguita communities of the Huasco Valley in northern Chile celebrated a court decision Wednesday that will bring to a complete halt work on the Pascua Lama gold, silver and copper mine belonging to Canada’s Barrick gold.
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