 Hello and welcome to the International Daily Roundup by People's Dispatch, where we bring you major news developments from around the world. Our headlines, Haiti's de facto President-journal moist killed in an overnight attack, Colombia's peace tribunal accuses 10 soldiers of extrajudicial civilian killings, Cook County workers enter second week on strike for fair contracts in the United States, and in our video section we take a look at the growing persecution of activists and journalists in India. In our first story, Haiti's de facto President-journal moist was assassinated during the early hours of July 7. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph has stated that the unidentified armed men had attacked his residence in Port-au-Prince. Moise's spouse in First Lady Martin Moise was also injured and has been hospitalized. In an official statement, Joseph said that the armed men spoke Spanish. He later said that they spoke Spanish or English and were heavily armed and trained. Gunfire could be heard in the parallel five district after the attack. A state of emergency has been declared as Joseph's call for an extraordinary council of ministers. Meanwhile, Moise had been ruling by decree after Haiti failed to hold parliamentary elections during 2018. While his presidential term was legally supposed to end in February 2021, he refused to step down. This led to mass protests across Haiti demanding an end to his term. Meanwhile, Moise passed a series of decrees to solidify his power and dismiss judges who opposed his actions. Despite the rejection of his presidency by the people of Haiti, he continued to receive support from the UN, the OAS, and the US. Moise scheduled first parliamentary elections for September. He also sanctioned the drafting of a new constitution which was supposed to be put on a referendum on September 26. The document proposes the elimination of the Senate and a return to the presidentialist system. Meanwhile, Haiti has also been witnessing a surge in abductions and violent attacks. Journalist Diego Charles, an activist and tenet declared were among the 15 people assassinated on June 29. Moreover, fighting between rival armed groups has displaced over 10,000 people in Port-au-Prince in June. These groups continue to control large parts of poor and working class neighbourhoods, including managing people's identity cards. In our next story, a Colombian court has accused 10 soldiers of the extrajudicial killings of at least 120 civilians. Among them are a military general, six officers, three non-commissioned officers, and a member of the public force. The special jurisdiction for peace or JEP announced a ruling on July 6. The accused have been held responsible for the civilian murders in Catatumbo between 2007 and August 2008. They were later presented as combat deaths of guerrilla fighters. This is the first time that the JEP has accused the Colombian army in relation to the false positive scandal. This case refers to a series of civilian killings which are later presented as combat fatalities. As per the JEP, the Colombian army carried out over 6,400 such killings between 2002 and 2008. This coincided with the incentive program launched under President Alvaro Uribe. Soldiers with higher combat kills were rewarded with vacations, promotions etc. The JEP is examining atrocities carried out over 50 years of armed conflict in Colombia. The court was set up after the guerrilla revolutionary armed forces of Colombia were demobilized in 2016. However, despite signing the peace accords, former combatants have continued to be killed in the country. The JEP has also warned against rising casualties during the ongoing national strike. The tribunal has noted an increase of over 400% in civilian repercussions in armed conflict. Colombia is currently the second country after Myanmar with the highest rate of violent deaths per day of protest. One death has been recorded in the country every 36 hours. Meanwhile, violent armed conflict has increased in 111 municipalities. We now go to the US where 2,500 workers in Illinois have been on strike for almost two weeks. Custodians, clerks and technicians employed by Cook County began picketing on June 25th. Organized by the service employees International Union, they are demanding a fair contract. Prior to the strike, the SEIU had been involved in negotiations with the county for over eight months. So far, the government has only offered a pay increase of 8.5% over four years. However, this will be lower in the rate of inflation. Moreover, the county is proposing to increase health insurance costs by around 80%. Cook County employees worked the pandemic even as people contracted and died from COVID-19. Workers have also stated that they did not have access to proper protective equipment. The employment contracts of thousands of workers in Cook County has expired on November 2020. Since then, various unions have negotiated and approved agreements with the government. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees agreed to 11.5% rise over four years. According to the union, the deal will include raises ranging from 12.2% to 31.7% over four years. In the meantime, SEIU workers were offered a significantly smaller raise. As per an update released on July 2nd, the government's later offer was a late stopover pay increase of 0.5%. Under this proposal, most workers will not receive a raise at all while others will get 10 cents an hour. And in our final story, we go to India. Outrage is grown following the custodial death of 84-year-old activist father Stan Swamy. He died in hospital on June 5th after his health continued to worsen during eight months in jail. Swamy was among the 16 activists and lawyers were imprisoned in relation with what is known as the Bhima Koregao case. The case refers to Caspace extremist violence that took place in Bhima Koregao village on January 1st, 2018. Arrested activists were accused of instigating the violence and having links with the outlawed Maoist Party in India. They have been repeatedly denying these allegations and have also been denied bail while they are awaiting trial. The Bhima Koregao 15 was among the increasing number of activists and journalists being persecuted in India. Here is a video featured on the situation in the video. 84-year-old human rights activist, priest and political prisoner Stan Swamy died in hospital on July 5th in India. Many have called his death an institutional murder and a custodial killing. This is because Swamy had been incarcerated under dubious and unproven allegations. His appeal for medical bail had been rejected multiple times despite his deteriorating health. Swamy suffered from Parkinson's along with other ailments. He had contracted COVID-19 in jail. However, he was denied medical care for over 10 days before he was shifted to a hospital last month. Swamy had challenged the court's rejection of his bail in a higher court. The National Investigation Agency or NIA, which is probing the case, opposed Swamy's bail plea in the court stating that there did not exist conclusive proof of his medical ailments. Swamy died shortly before the matter was due to be heard again. Stan Swamy was a renowned activist who had spent decades working for the welfare of tribal communities in India. He had to fight a legal battle to even access a straw and zipper which he needed because of Parkinson's. Swamy was among the 16 activists and academics who have been arrested in the Bhima Koregao The case began on January 1st, 2018 when right-wing groups attacked a gathering of progressives celebrating the anniversary of the historic Battle of Bhima Koregao that took place 200 years ago. The violence led to the death of at least one person. Initially, the police had investigated right-wing leaders who were present at the scene for instigating riots. Later, however, investigating agency announced a probe which implicated progressive activists and accused them of working with the banned Maoist guerrillas to destabilize the country. The case has been severely criticized especially after reports by Washington Post which alleged that incriminating evidence had been planted on the laptop of one of the accused Rona Wilson using malware. New reports have now emerged after Swamy's death stating that evidence was also planted in a similar manner on the laptop of another accused Surendra Gardily. Attempts were also made to plant incriminating evidence on the laptop of Stan Swamy. It is not yet known if those were successful. Many of those imprisoned under this case are above the age of 60 and suffer from various health issues. 82-year-old Varavara Rao's health also deteriorated significantly while in prison. He is a poet and another accused in the Bhima Koregao case. He had contracted COVID-19, unilaterally tracked infection and was suffering a number of other ailments. In July 2020, his family had expressed the fear that he was suffering from brain damage. In February this year he was finally granted bail after two and a half years in prison. Another accused Hanibabu, a professor at Delhi University, tested positive for COVID-19 in May. He was already suffering from an acute eye infection for which treatment was delayed by prison authorities. Because of the infection, he suffered from almost complete loss of vision in his eye. The infection spread considerably before he was finally taken to a hospital. The treatment is still continuing. Seven of the 16 accused in this case have contracted COVID-19 now. Apart from this case as well, political prisoners in India incarcerated under dubious charges have been struggling to survive the pandemic. Siddique Kappan, a journalist, was arrested in October last year as he was trying to travel to the town of Hatris in Northern India to report on a caste-based rape case. In the midst of the pandemic, Kappan was arrested and lodged in an overcrowded prison where he got infected during a COVID outbreak. After much delay when he was finally admitted to a hospital, Kappan was kept chained to his bed and was not even allowed to get up to use the toilet. Throughout his illness, Kappan did not receive proper medical care. The common link among all these people is they have been charged under the Draconian Indian Law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA. The law allows authorities to detain people without presenting any charges for up to six months. Even afterwards, it is extremely difficult to get bail as authorities tend to cite vague arguments of threat to national security and sedition without presenting concrete evidence. A few days before his death, Stan Swamy had challenged the constitutional validity of certain sections of UAPA in court. Swamy said in his petition that the insurmountable hurdles UAP creates in getting bail violates the accused person's fundamental right to life and liberty as guaranteed by the constitution. Under the ruling far-right BJP government in India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UAPA is being used more and more often to clamp down on free speech and dissent.