Police

Soldiers line up before leaving to patrol the streets in Bogotá, Colombia, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. 

Use the force: Part II

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into what happened when Colombia’s military took on police work in Cali, the country’s third-largest city.

Use the force: Part II
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan throw stones toward police during a protest against the arrest of Khan, in Karachi, Pakistan, May 9, 2023.

A shaky political situation in Pakistan could get worse with arrest of former PM Imran Khan

A shaky political situation in Pakistan could get worse with arrest of former PM Imran Khan
protest

Israel’s ‘judicial coup’ protests are going strong. They still might fail.

Israel’s ‘judicial coup’ protests are going strong. They still might fail.
Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, clash with the police after they stormed the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 8, 2023.

Brazil authorities seek to punish pro-Bolsonaro rioters

Brazil authorities seek to punish pro-Bolsonaro rioters
In this file photo taken Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, a Nigerian soldier patrols in an armored car, during Eid al-Fitr celebrations, in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Outsourced force: Part I

Outsourced force: Part I
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police, in Tehran, Oct. 1, 2022. 

Amid ongoing protests, Iran's morality police ‘lies in ruins,’ analyst says

Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group's Iran Project, talked with The World’s host Marco Werman about how sustained protests in Iran may be impacting the power of the so-called "morality police."  

Amid ongoing protests, Iran's morality police ‘lies in ruins,’ analyst says
woman in park

For labor-trafficked immigrants, T-visas are a lifesaving but flawed relief

The GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting spoke to nearly a dozen people in Massachusetts who say they were victims of forced labor, having to sneak down the back stairs to escape or call 911 for help. An ongoing GBH series on labor trafficking has found that those victims are often overlooked and their abusers go unpunished.

For labor-trafficked immigrants, T-visas are a lifesaving but flawed relief
street intersection

Leicester’s Indian diaspora searches for answers after violence rocks multicultural British city

The English city of Leicester is host to one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK, including a sizable South Asian community. But in recent months, the city’s reputation as a successful model of integration has taken a blow as simmering tensions between people from Hindu and Muslim backgrounds have spilled over into street battles.

Leicester’s Indian diaspora searches for answers after violence rocks multicultural British city
Players and officials of the soccer club Arema FC pray outside the Kanjuruhan Stadium where many fans lost their lives in a stampede Saturday night in Malang, Indonesia

Indonesian police probe tear gas firing at soccer match

An investigation is underway after 125 people were killed during a stampede after police fired tear gas at a soccer match in East Java’s Malang city in Indonesia.

Indonesian police probe tear gas firing at soccer match
Most of those killed have been rookie officers in their twenties who were patrolling towns in the north of Colombia.

Colombia’s police come under fire from drug trafficking groups

A recent wave of attacks against police has put Colombia’s security forces on edge. The government has blamed most of the recent police killings on the Gulf Clan, a drug-trafficking group that runs extortion rackets and exports cocaine to the US.

Colombia’s police come under fire from drug trafficking groups
Syrians sit at a coffee shop

'I'm being strangled here': Refugees returned by Turkey to Syria say conditions are bleak

In the Turkish city of Istanbul, police have continued a stepped-up campaign of random ID checks in immigrant neighborhoods. This week, officials acknowledged that 19,000 people have been deported over the past eight months. It’s not clear how many of them are Syrians.

'I'm being strangled here': Refugees returned by Turkey to Syria say conditions are bleak
A man holds a child as they watch a dance performance at the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

Leaked Xinjiang police files are a 'devastating' glimpse of abuses against Uyghur detainees in China, expert says

Darren Byler, who specializes in China's treatment of Uyghurs at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, discussed insights from the leaked data with The World's host Marco Werman.

Leaked Xinjiang police files are a 'devastating' glimpse of abuses against Uyghur detainees in China, expert says
Friends and family of Nicolas Guerrero lit candles near the spot where he was killed during a protest

Families seek justice for youth killed while protesting last year

Distraught families are trying to raise awareness and seek justice after their children were killed while protesting proposed tax hikes in Colombia last year. Human rights groups say police killed dozens of youth from working-class areas.

Families seek justice for youth killed while protesting last year
Mehray Mezensof with her husband Mirzat Taher

This Uyghur woman was separated from her husband by Chinese authorities. She hasn't given up hope.

Mehray Mezensof's husband was arrested by Chinese authorities in Xinjiang just days before the newlywed couple planned to fly to Melbourne to begin their lives together. Many others share similar stories among China's minority Uyghur population.

This Uyghur woman was separated from her husband by Chinese authorities. She hasn't given up hope.
A Pittsburgh police officer stands in a downtown Pittsburgh intersection Sunday, May 31, 2020.

If not police, what? Part II

This week in Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, Sam Ratner takes a deep dive into the history of Freedom House, a Pittsburgh-based Black-led nonprofit hired in 1968 to offer ambulance services in some of the predominantly Black neighborhoods around the city.

If not police, what? Part II