About 30 aides to Moammar Qaddafi, including his son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, were indicted Oct. 24 by a Libyan court for a list of offenses allegedly committed during the 2011 revolt in the country. The charges levied against them include murder, kidnapping, complicity in incitement to rape, plunder, sabotage, embezzlement of public funds and acts harmful to national unity. Although less than half of the defendants appeared in court for the indictment hearing on Thursday, all defendants must be present at the trial hearing, the date of which has not yet been set. The trial will be one of the most high-profile in the country's history, with defendants including senior officials such as former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi and Qaddafi's last prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi.

Amnesty International (AI) on Oct. 22 urged the US to conduct a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into allegations that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drone strikes have resulted in recent civilian casualties in Pakistan. AI reviewed (PDF) more than 50 reported US drone strikes in Pakistan from January 2012 to August 2013, many of which resulted in multiple civilian deaths. AI asserts that, because the US government refuses to provide "accurate information" with respect to specific drone strikes, and its drone program in general, certain CIA operatives may be guilty of arbitrary and extrajudicial executions in violation of international law. According to AI, the US is obligated by international law to fully investigate each strike and ensure that guilty parties are brought to justice.

A team of disarmament experts from the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Oct. 6 began overseeing the destruction by the Syrian government, and will verify that the process is correctly handled. The disarmament team will destroy the chemical weapons arsenal, its storage sites and the facilities which manufacture them in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2118 (PDF8), which adopts and orders the Syrian government to comply with the Sept. 27 decision of the OPCW Executive Council. The decision requires Syria to identify the types, quantities and locations of all chemical weapons in its stockpile, as well as all chemical weapon storage facilities, production facilities, and research and development facilities, and provides a deadline of mid-2014 to complete their destruction.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Libya Oct. 4 to suspend the death sentences of Ahmed Ibrahim and Walid Dabnoon, who were convicted of crimes related to the country's uprising in June 2011. HRW contends that Ibrahim, a former official in the government of deposed president Muammar Qaddafi, and Dabnoon, a volunteer for pro-Qaddafi fighting forces during the clash with protesters, were denied the full benefits of due process during their trials, including the ability to consult counsel regularly and confidentially. According to HRW:

The International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) on Oct. 1 sentenced Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, a member of parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to death for war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Chowdhury is the first member of the BNP to stand trial for war crimes under the tribunal set up by the Awami League-led government in 2010. He was found guilty on nine of 23 charges stemming from accusations regarding his role in war crimes committed by pro-Pakistan militias. Chowdhury is expected to appeal his conviction in the Supreme Court.

A military judge on Oct. 2 refused to suspend the pretrial hearings in a case against five Guantánamo Bay prisoners related to the 9-11 terrorist attack. Army Col. James Pohl reasoned that the measures taken to respond to the defendants' concerns were adequate to continue the hearings. The defense team claimed that the government's computer network was not secure. The lawyers alleged that confidential data, e-mails and private research went missing or were erroneously sent to the prosecution. The US Department of Defense stated that it will address the concerns. The next pretrial hearing is set for October 22 while no trial date is set.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) on Sept. 30 filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) accusing the US government of committing human rights violations in Vieques island, part of Puerto Rico. The petition was filed on behalf of 10 Vieques residents who have cancer or have relatives suffering from cancer. Vieques was used as a military exercise range for the US Navy for 60 years until 2003, four years after a security guard was accidentally killed during a bombing practice. The NLG claimed that the hazards created during those years were never communicated to the island's citizens, who ultimately suffered chronic illness. Moreover, as a result of the Navy's military practices, the island became polluted with toxic residue adversely affecting the civilian population. Thus, the lawyers accused the US government of violating several articles of the American Declaration. If the Commission finds violations were committed, it will make a list of binding recommendations. The lawyer filing the petition stated that the petition is not seeking specific reparations but is asking for changes that would mitigate the existing damages, such as improved health care and transportation to Puerto Rico.

The UN said Sept. 27 that inspectors returned to Syria this week to investigate seven chemical weapon attacks, including three that occurred after the Aug. 21 incident in Damascus. The investigation is set to be finished by early next week, followed by a separate visit by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to inspect Syria's chemical weapon stockpile. The OPCW is also set to vote on a draft agreement which will be incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution, to which the US and Russia have agreed.