Earlier in March, Indonesian authorities carried convicted drug courier Adami Wilson, a Nigerian, to a remote location and executed him by firing squad. Wilson had complained that he had paid what he had been told was the necessary bribe to secure commutation of his sentence, but the promised mercy never came. He was executed in part because he admitted to corruption.
Over the coming days and weeks, plenty will be said on Chavez. Some analysis will be fair and well researched; other accounts will pass through the distorting lens of Western interests. As the case of Suharto demonstrates, this lens can play optical tricks, indeed millions can be wiped from the record.
In his superb article 'A Human Rights Wish-list for 2013', Jack Healey encouraged us to chose our own wish-list. I have taken up that suggestion.
On Wednesday I was arrested for unfurling a West Papuan flag as the Indonesian President's limousine departed Westminster Abbey, after being feted by senior Anglicans.