BRAZIL: Protected Witness Speaks Out – Part 1

Despite the risks involved, a man who is under the witness protection programme in Brazil and his wife decided to tell their story to IPS, to denounce flaws in a system that, in their case, has added neglect and isolation to the total anonymity in which they must live.

Working to Uproot Impunity in Guatemala

The controversial acquittal of former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo of embezzlement charges was a new frustration for anti-corruption groups who are pushing for reforms to fight impunity in a country where 98 percent of crimes go unsolved.

ENVIRONMENT-RUSSIA: Activists Protest Destruction of 500-Year-Old Forest

Environmentalists and rights campaigners have mounted pressure on the Russian government to rescind the decision to demolish more than 500-year-old woodlands to make way for the construction of a new super-highway linking Moscow with the country's northern capital, St. Petersburg.

U.S.: “Toughest Sheriff” in Legal Crosshairs

The United States' self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" has made international headlines for housing inmates at outdoor tent facilities and conducting immigration sweeps in Latino neighbourhoods.

BOOKS: The Lonely Plight of the Whistleblower

"Few paths are more treacherous than the one that challenges an abuse of power," warns "A Handbook for Committing the Truth: The Corporate Whistleblower's Survival Guide" - a primer not only for whistleblowers but for corporate leaders and citizen activists as well, say authors Tom Devine and Tarek Maassarani.

LDC Meet Ends, Blame Game Begins

Mission not accomplished. This is in three words what more than 200 eminent speakers and panelists from over 70 participating countries in effect told their peers, the media and delegates who attended the U.N. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Fourth Conference May 9-13 in Istanbul.

Black Market in Arms Flourishing as Arab Spring Continues

As the Syrian uprisings escalate in violence, Lebanon’s black market in arms is flourishing, with prices of light and medium weapons driven higher by Lebanese and Syrian demand.

MEXICO: Four-Day March against Violence Calls for Social Pact

"I want to request the resignation of the Secretary (Minister) of Public Security. We want a message today from the president, showing that he did hear us," said poet Javier Sicilia before a crowded square overflowing with demonstrators who participated in a four-day-long March for Peace with Justice and Dignity in Mexico.

MEXICO: Journalists Defy Violence, Self-Censorship

In Mexico, the country in the Americas facing the worst wave of violence against reporters, different journalistic initiatives are combating this dynamic, which fuels a tendency towards self-censorship.

Drug-Related Violence Closing in on Mexican Capital

The military offensive waged by the conservative government of President Felipe Calderón against drug cartels in northern Mexico has resulted in an appalling death toll and grief-stricken relatives mourning the victims, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire. Now the drug war is beginning to affect the capital, which had so far escaped the worst of the violence.

COLOMBIA: Displaced Campesinos Want a Say on Land Restitution Bill

The Colombian government has been extolling a bill on Victims and Land Restitution which is being debated in Congress and is receiving extensive media coverage. But the demands of the victims themselves, forcibly displaced campesinos, are falling on deaf ears.

EGYPT: Corruption Ran in the Family

Ousted president Hosni Mubarak ran Egypt as his own private estate, carving up its resources and siphoning off its capital into offshore accounts. But he didn’t do it alone: he had help from his family and a few trusted friends.

LATIN AMERICA: Boosting Accountability for Mining and Oil Industries

Guatemala has been accepted as a candidate country by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the sector, and to reduce tensions between mining and oil companies and local people affected by their activities.

Privatisation Aided Egypt Revolt, Army Says

Anger at Egypt’s privatisation programme, involving the transfer of billions of dollars worth of public assets to private hands, aided the Egyptian revolution that elbowed the Western-backed Hosni Mubarak out of office in February, a top army general said.

Q&A: The Fight Against Organised Crime Has to Start with Society

In countries where powerful organised crime groups operate, like Mexico, there is a kind of "mafiosity" or culture of illegality deeply rooted in society, which must be fought by educating the young, says Italian priest Tonio Dell'Olio, one of the leaders of the anti-mafia organisation Libera.

COLOMBIA: Court Documents Reveal Chiquita Paid for Security

Contrary to claims by Chiquita Brands International that its payments to Colombian paramilitary and guerrilla groups over more than a decade were extorted, internal company documents released here Thursday strongly suggest that the transactions provided specific benefits to the banana giant.

CORRUPTION-INDIA: Gandhian Movement Pushes Ombudsman Law

Seeing the bespectacled old man fasting in protest against corruption in the bustling heart of the Indian capital, many are reminded of Mahatma Gandhi, the man who used ‘moral power’ to lead India to independence from British colonial rule in 1947

ECUADOR: US Ambassador Expelled Over Wikileaks Cable

The Ecuadorean government declared U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges "persona non grata" and expelled her from the country in response to a cable released by the Wikileaks whistleblower web site.

EGYPT: Cracks Appear In Mubarak-Era Labour Body

The state-controlled trade union federation that for over half a century was employed by Egyptian rulers to suppress workers' protests and mobilise voters for sham elections appears to be crumbling with the recent ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

Swaziland’s Middle-Income Status Reflects Only King’s Lifestyle

While Swaziland struggles to alleviate its fiscal crisis with foreign aid because of its World Bank classification as a lower middle-income country, the government has increased the budget for King Mswati III, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch and one of the richest royals in the world.

CORRUPTION: Post-Mubarak Egypt Probes Public Land Contracts

Egyptian authorities have opened dozens of criminal investigations into hundreds of millions of dollars worth of public land contracts that were awarded illegally to real estate developers associated with former President Hosni Mubarak without proper procedures at below market rates.