Police brutality

The U.N. decried on Aug. 8 "widespread and systematic use of excessive force" against demonstrators in Venezuela, saying security forces and pro-government groups were responsible for at least 73 protester deaths.

Greek media have published a new video of a a fight that resulted in the death of a US tourist in Zakynthos.

Nine people, among them seven Serbian citizens, have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Two Montenegrin watchdogs, the Civic Alliance and the Alternative Institute, on Wednesday urged the government and police to clarify the actions of an anti-terrorist unit called the SAJ, which was reportedly involved in a night club brawl over the weekend during a raid.

A court in the southern province of Antalya on June 28 sentenced a police officer to four years and two months in prison for beating a man with sticks and truncheons during Turkey's Gezi Park protests in 2013.

A prosecutor has sought the arrest of two educators, Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who have been on hunger strike for over 75 days in protest at being dismissed from their posts through state of emergency decrees. 

Özakça and Gülmen were referred to court with the arrest demands on May 23, a day after both were detained from their homes in the capital Ankara.

Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

Clashes have broken out between workers protesting austerity and police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Demonstrators blocked roads, started fires and threw projectiles at police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.

French police fired tear gas in clashes with demonstrators in Paris on March 19 as thousands marched against "police brutality" after the alleged rape of a black youth with a police baton.

The February attack on the 22-year-old man, identified only as Theo, cast a spotlight on rough policing methods in France and triggered riots in the gritty suburbs surrounding Paris.

A new organization calling itself Cells of Direct Attack - Living Waste Group has claimed responsibility for an arson attack on the French Institute in Athens last month that caused minor damage but no injuries.

The marginalization of "and societal intolerance towards the Romani minority remained the country's most pressing human rights problem", alongside anti-refugee sentiment and deteriorating media environment, the US Department of State says.

Greek police say an arson attack on the French cultural institute in Athens could be connected to a case of alleged police brutality near Paris last month.

A French policeman has been placed under formal investigation for suspected rape and three others for unnecessary violence on February 2 during the arrest of a 22-year-old man in Aulnay-sous-Bois outside the French capital.