LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

Brazil, Venezuela Receive UNHRC Seats Despite Opposition
The governments of Brazil and Venezuela were awarded the two seats allocated to Latin America on the United Nations Human Rights Council despite well-documented records of human rights abuses in both countries. The council has 47 seats in total, with 14 being filled on October 17. According to the Guardian, about 4.5 million Venezuelans have fled their country’s economic and social collapse as the embattled president, Nicolás Maduro, has deployed the military to snuff out dissent. Brazil, on the other hand, is run by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has previously expressed contempt toward the concept of human rights and encouraged police to carry out extrajudicial killings.

INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC

American Prosecutor Killed in Micronesia
American Prosecutor Rachelle Bergeron was murdered during her daily run in the Micronesian State of Yap, where she served as the state’s acting attorney general. Bergeron had prosecuted local criminals, and the FBI is investigating whether the murder is related to cases she prosecuted. Bergeron was the only prosecutor on the island of 11,000 residents. The murder shocked residents of the island, which has historically had low crime rates and few guns. Yap’s governor, Henry Falan, said, “Her loss will be greatly felt by all who knew her. Yap’s spirit is broken by this senseless and heinous act.”

MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA

Egypt Unveils 30 Recently-Uncovered Coffins
Egyptian authorities revealed on October 19 the contents of 30 ancient wooden coffins, some of which included mummies. The discovery is the largest in over a century and was the first successful uncovering by an Egyptian-led archeological dig. Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany described the 3,000-year-old coffins as “exceptionally well-preserved, exceptionally well-colored.” Among the mummies are two children, as well as men and women, who experts believe to have been members of the middle class. The coffins will be restored and then relocated to a museum for ancient Egyptian artifacts near the pyramids of Giza. An exhibition will be open to the public by the end of 2020.

EASTERN EUROPE & RUSSIA

Former Nazi Guard Goes on Trial
A former Nazi concentration camp guard has gone on trial for 5,230 counts as an accessory to murder. Bruno Dey, who is now 93, was a guard at the Stutthof camp east of Danzig in Poland from August 1944 to April 1945. Although there was no evidence that Dey was directly involved in any killings, the prosecutors in the case argue that he nevertheless helped facilitate killings through his role as a guard. This argument has prevailed in past court cases in Germany, and former Nazi guards have been convicted as accessories to murder. Dey does not deny that he served as a guard in the Polish concentration camp. The Stutthof camp was originally used as the main collection point for Jews and non-Jewish Poles removed from the city. It later became a forced-labor camp primarily filled with Polish and Soviet citizens.

AFRICA

Johannesburg Mayor Resigns Over Handling of Race
Herman Mashaba has resigned from his position as mayor of Johannesburg after three years due to disagreements with his party, the opposition Democratic Alliance, over its handling of race. Mashaba, who is black, criticized the party for a lack of focus on addressing racial inequalities. Helen Zille, who in 2017 praised colonialism, was elected into the Democratic Alliance’s elite. Observers like Mashaba see Zille’s appointment as a measure taken by the Democratic Alliance to retain its historically white support that has begun to dwindle. The conflict in the largest opposition party in South Africa occurs at a time when the governing African National Congress also appears vulnerable.

WESTERN EUROPE & CANADA

MP Vote on Brexit Ruled Out by Commons Speaker
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been denied the opportunity to hold a second vote on his Brexit deal in the House of Commons after the speaker, John Bercow, said such a vote would be “repetitive and disorderly.” Members of Parliament forced the government to comply with the requirements of the Benn Act and send a letter to the European Union member states requesting a delay to Brexit. Had Johnson won a vote on October 21, the letter could have been rescinded. Johnson’s government still hopes to push through the legislation necessary to enact Brexit through Parliament in time to meet the October 31 deadline.