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In a surprise move, Mohamed Morsi, first democratically elected Egyptian president, retired the powerful defence minister, Field Marshal Tantawi, and armed forces chief of staff Sami Anan, and scrapped a constitutional document that gave the military legislative and other powers.

On July 20 the Maya and Xinca people, joint together in the Consejo de Pueblos de Occidente (Western Villages Council), presented their arguments for the general and total unconstitutionality of the Mining Law, contained in Decree 48-97, in a hearing before the Constitutional Court of Guatemala.

ARTICLE 19 is concerned about a draft Article on media regulation at the Constituent Assembly of Tunisia creating a structure of regulatory control over all media which is not compatible with the basic principles of democracy. The Article contains insufficient safeguards for media freedom. Moreover, despite its fundamental character, the Article was drafted without public debates.

Death of an intelligence service general in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakshan region triggered violence leaving at least 48 dead, 30 arrested and information blockade imposed. No particular action was taken to protect civilians. The UN, the OSCE and Tajiks from all over the world expressed their concern with the government’s handling of the situation.

We, the international organizations signing below, would like to express our severe indignation regarding the three most recent murders of peasants in the context of the agrarian conflict in Bajo Aguán.

In light of the grave political incidents that have occurred in Paraguay and have led to the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo, who had been elected in free democratic elections in April 2008, FIAN condemns the so-called political trial of President Lugo, denies the legitimacy of the current government and supports those who, faced with this situation, are demanding the fulfilment of international agreements violated by those who now hold the State power.

The violence, which reached its bloodiest point in June, constituted some of the country’s deadliest sectarian bloodshed in years and raised international concerns about the Rohingya minority group’s fate inside Myanmar.

In the aftermath of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Azerbaijani authorities have targeted critical journalists and activists.

Several international organisations have welcomed the ruling in favour of the Authentic Peasant Reclamation Movement of Aguán (MARCA), restoring the land they have been claiming for 18 years. This decision also insists that the numerous grave human rights violations committed during the rural conflict in the Bajo Aguán not go unpunished.