Human Rights: December 2004 Archives

President and Congress Thwart Judicial Independence

(Washington D.C., December 17, 2004) The Ecuadorian Congress has
violated the principle of judicial independence by purging nearly all of the
Supreme Court justices, Human Rights Watch said today. In a special
session called by President Lucio Gutiérrez last week, 52 members of the
100-seat Congress voted to replace 27 of the 31 justices with their own
political allies.

The Niger Delta

PORT HARCOURT, 6 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - Hundreds of angry villagers, including women and children, overran three facilities operated by oil giants Royal Dutch/Shell and ChevronTexaco in southern Nigeria, shutting off more than 90,000 barrels per day of production, officials said on Monday.