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The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed suit today against the country's largest private extradition company on behalf of a female prisoner who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of a sexual assault by a company guard during a drive from Texas to Colorado.

Following the hunger strike by two gas survivors and one activist outside the Indian parliament in New Delhi in protest at the Indian government's proposal, concerned and outraged people all around the world are joining a mass hunger strike. The mass action is led by Diane Wilson, a shrimp boat captain, who is fasting outside the gates of Dow (formerly Carbide) in Sea Drift, Texas, USA. Thousands around the world are expected to join her. Hunger strikers to date have included French author Dominique Lapierre, Spanish writer Javier Moro and Gianfranco Bettin, Mayor of Venice, Italy.

NEW DELHI (July 16, 2002) -- Two of the Bhopal hunger strikers, Rasheeda Bee and Tara Bai, fainted during a rally by the Bhopal survivors here and had to be taken to St. Stevens Hospital today. Both were in the 18th day of fasting to protest against decisions of the Government that sell out the interests of the Bhopal gas victims under pressure from the US Government and Dow Chemicals. Satinath (Sathyu) Sarangi (48) remains active and participated in the rally by Bhopal survivors in New Delhi today.

Victims of apartheid are demanding $50 billion from American and Swiss banks in compensation for profiteering from the "blood and misery" caused by white South Africa. The lawsuit -- which was filed on June 16, the 26th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising -- accuses Swiss companies, Credit Suisse and UBS, and U.S.-based Citicorp of providing loans to the apartheid government in violation of UN-imposed economic sanctions. The suit is spearheaded by Ed Fagan, a U.S. lawyer who forced Swiss banks to pay $1.25 billion to World War II victims of the Nazi Holocaust in 1998.

June 24, 2002 -- "The failure of governments from seven of the Group of Eight (G8) largest economies -- the USA, the Russian Federation, France, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Italy and Canada -- to regulate arms transfers is contributing to grave human rights abuses in developing countries and the destruction of millions of lives, particularly in Africa," Amnesty International said today.

M&M/Mars is currently asking consumers to vote for a new color of M&M's. On March 30th, participate in a Nationwide Day of Education and Action to rally the vote for Fair Trade Certified chocolate, the color of freedom and dignity!

Chocolate manufacturers, human rights groups and the Ivory Coast Government have signed pact aimed at ending the abuse of child labour in the chocolate industry.

BOGOTA -- The US said on Wednesday that Colombia's armed forces were meeting human rights criteria and that as a result it would release more than $60m in military aid.

Banana workers, including children as young as eight years old, suffer from a range of abuses on plantations in Ecuador whose government fails to enforce international labor standards or even its own national labor code, according to a report released in Washington Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a statement issued on 24 April, the Haitian workers' organisation, Batay Ouvriye, denounces a month-long wave of violent repression endured by workers and peasants at the Guacimal orange plantation at St. Raphael in northern Haiti. The violence perpetrated by police, acting in collusion with the local landowners and agents of the Guacimal company, has forced workers in the area to go into hiding.

A class-action lawsuit filed by some 35 million descendants of black slaves against three companies with ties to the slave trade is aimed as much at shaking up U.S. society as at winning financial returns, say lawyers and observers.

The second annual skills training for corporate campaigners, a project of the Corporate Campaign Working Group* -- environmental, human rights and labor organizations working together to challenge corporate power and demand accountability.

Environmentalism in Mexico has a dim future unless young people are taught to be more aware of their world, according to Rodolfo Montiel, an environmentalist from the country who was released from prison late last year.

The American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) and the Free Burma Coalition (FBC) today announced a campaign of protest over the fact that parts of the 2002 Winter Olympic Torchbearer uniforms were made in Burma.

A powerhouse team of African-American legal and academic stars is getting ready to sue companies it says profited from slavery before 1865. Initially, the group's aim is to use lawsuits and the threat of litigation to squeeze apologies and financial settlements from dozens of corporations. Ultimately, it hopes to gain momentum for a national apology and a massive reparations payout by Congress to African-Americans.

An Expeditionary Task Force patrol dispersed a group of coca growers attempting to block the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz highway in Shinahota. According to eyewitness testimony, members of the forces shot directly at a group of farmers on a market road perpendicular to the highway.