Its not The Hague, but its a start. From AFP, Nov. 19:

Texas jury indicts Cheney, Gonzalez in prison abuse case
WASHINGTON — A Texas grand jury has issued indictments against Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez over abuse at privately run prisons, court documents showed.

The New York Times reports Nov. 19 that "President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has signaled to Eric H. Holder Jr., a senior official in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration, that he will be chosen as attorney general... Mr. Holder would be the first African-American to serve as the nation's top law enforcement official." Unfortunately, he would also be the first AG to have defended a multinational corporation in a lawsuit over collaboration with paramilitary death-squads—specifically Chiquita Brands in a case over its payments to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a State Department-recognized "terrorist organization."

On the heels of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's second formal appointment—former Sen. Tom Daschle for secretary of health and human services—appears to be another tilt to the neocons. The New York Times Nov. 20 notes potential conflicts of interest related to his work for the Mayo Clinic. But we recall his comments as Senate majority leader in which he advocated "regime change"—and not for Iraq, but for Palestine. And not against Hamas, but against Fatah and Arafat. We noted his extremist comments to Fox News interviewer Tony Snow in June 2002:

Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video statement Nov. 19 calling US President-elect Barack Obama a "house slave" who had aligned himself with the "enemies" of Islam. "You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America," the militant leader said.

A missile from a US drone struck a purported militant hideout in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province Nov. 19—the 20th such attack since August, but the first outside of the country's Tribal Areas. The strike in Bannu district left five dead. It came despite growing protests from the Pakistani government against the air-strikes. (AP, Nov. 19)

Colombian officials declared a state of emergency Nov. 19, boosting their powers of arrest and money seizure to help deal with multimillion-dollar investment scams that have targeted mostly poor investors. President Álvaro Uribe's office said the measure was taken because of a "serious deterioration in public order" in connection with "massive illegal collection of public funds."

Nicaragua remains violently divided more than a week after contested national municipal elections. On Nov. 18, the opposition Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) candidate for mayor of Managua, Eduardo Montealegre, called off a planned march, charging intimidation by followers of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), who poured into the capital in the prelude to the planned rally. Montealegre, who called the march to protest what he called fraud in the Nov. 9 elections, said Sandinistas armed with sticks, stones and homemade mortars threatened a confrontation with PLC supporters.

The leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations met in Washington, DC on Nov. 15 for the group's first summit—an emergency session to discuss the world financial crisis. The G20 combines the Group of 8 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US) with growing industrial powers like China and India; together the G20 nations account for as much as 90% of the world's gross domestic product. The Latin American members are Argentina, Brazil and Mexico; this year Brazil holds the group's rotating leadership.