Hungry Bear Eats Man Alive in Khabarovsk

This July 6, 2011, file photo shows a grizzly bear
roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP
Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)
This July 6, 2011, file photo shows a grizzly bear roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)
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Hungry Bear Eats Man Alive in Khabarovsk

This July 6, 2011, file photo shows a grizzly bear
roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP
Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)
This July 6, 2011, file photo shows a grizzly bear roaming near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart, File)

The accident of a brown bear killing a man in the Khabarovsk region has stirred fears among dwellers, mainly in the small villages and communities near forests.

Although people of these regions are familiar with seeing bears while wandering in forests, collecting mushroom, or during hunting rounds, yet the recent behaviour the bear raised serious concerns.

Local media outlets reported a man, who went out for mushroom collection, had been killed by a brown bear near the victim's village.

A local man, who saw the body, said this time the bear didn't attack the man to defend itself, but to kill and eat.

An expert of bears' behaviors said this is one of the rare cases where a bear preys a human. He explained that these big animals do not attack humans usually, and what happened is an unfamiliar behavior. After the accident, the hungry bear was caught and killed by the forest's guards.

The scene of bears grouping near garbage containers has been terrifying people recently. According to experts, this attitude is driven by many factors such as the lack of suitable natural environments, the weather conditions that prevented the growth of sufficient quantities of mushrooms that meet the bears' needs, along with fires that eradicated wide forest spaces in that region.

All these factors pushed bears to search for food in the human communities. These animals are known for their strong sense of smell that may lead them to food in houses or wastes by following odors.

The accident that took place on August 12 was not the first this month. On August 8, an old woman who went out to search for mushroom in the forest was chased by a bear. The old lady hid in a swamp and tried to intimidate the animal with scary sounds, but it stood still. The old woman spent a day and a half in the swamp until she was found and rescued.



Amnesty International Denounces Crackdown on Political Opponents in Libya

Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
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Amnesty International Denounces Crackdown on Political Opponents in Libya

Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)
Fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) stand guard next to Sidra oil port in Ras Lanuf. (Reuters file)

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Libya’s eastern-based forces of enabling a crackdown on dissidents and of entrenched impunity for deaths in custody and other serious human rights abuses, according to AFP.

Since the 2011 overthrow of ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising, the energy-rich North African country has been wracked by unrest.

It is split between a Tripoli-based government, headed by Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east backed by Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army (LNA) controls the east and much of the south.

“Since January 2024, heavily armed Internal Security Agency (ISA) agents have arrested without a warrant dozens of people, including women and men in their 70s, from their homes, streets or other public places in areas of eastern and southern Libya,” Amnesty said.

Based on interviews with former detainees, the families of detainees, as well as lawyers, human rights defenders and political activists, the rights group said the detainees were then transferred to ISA-controlled facilities, where they remained arbitrarily detained for months without being allowed to contact their families or lawyers; some were subjected to enforced disappearances for periods reaching 10 months.

It noted that none were brought before civilian judicial authorities, allowed to challenge the legality of their detention, or were formally charged with any offences.

“Two people died in custody in suspicious circumstances in April and July while in ISA-controlled detention centers in Benghazi and Ajdabiya,” Amnesty said, adding that no independent and impartial criminal investigations have been carried out into their deaths and no one has been held accountable.

“The spike in arbitrary detentions and deaths in custody in recent months highlights how the existing culture of impunity has empowered armed groups to violate detainees’ right to life without fearing any consequences,” said Bassam Al Kantar, Amnesty International’s Libya Researcher.

“These deaths in custody add to the catalogue of horrors committed by the ISA against those who dare to express views critical of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces,” he added.

Amnesty called on the GNU and LAAF, as the de facto authorities in eastern and southern Libya, to ensure the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

“The LAAF must also suspend from positions of power ISA commanders and members reasonably suspected of crimes under international law and serious human rights violations, pending independent and impartial criminal investigations, including into the causes and circumstances of the deaths in custody, and, where sufficient evidence exists, prosecute them in fair proceedings in front of civilian courts,” it added.