For almost a decade now, South Africa’s construction sector has had to contend with organized crime groups that extort construction sites for moneyor a stake in development projects, and are not adverse to threatening those who oppose them with violence or death, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)reported Tuesday.

Amnesty International condemned Cambodia's recent conviction of an activist who was protesting against illegal logging interests in the country’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, saying that the move “marks further repression of environmental defenders.”

The transport business is often hijacked by organized crime – in particular the highly lucrative vehicle-towing industry – which gangs infiltrate across the U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa through violence, intimidation and corruption, the Global Initiative Against Organized Crime warned.

A Georgian court orderedon Saturday the evacuation of children from a Church-run boarding school for orphans after the local archbishop refused to let authorities enter the school and look into allegations of violence and sexual abuse of children.

A new wave of violence has spread across Mexico as the country approaches legislative elections in June, with criminal gangs murdering, extorting and threatening candidates as a way to strengthen their political influence.

ANovaya Gazeta investigative reporter who three years ago exposed the Chechen gay purge said she and a human rights lawyer were attacked last week by an angry mob in the Chechen capital of Grozny.

Sudanese businessman Ashraf Seed Ahmed Hussein Ali, known as Al-Cardinal, remains “a major enabler of corruption and violence for President Salva Kiir’s government,” claims the latest investigative report byThe Sentry.