A court in Bahrain on May 24 sentenced Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of jailed pro-democracy activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja to one month in prison for trying to organize an anti-government protest, according to Bahraini opposition groups. The court also fined her $530 on a separate charge of insulting a government employee. Zainab al-Khawaja refused to pay the fine and will face an additional 40 days in prison unless she pays it. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike for three months, expressing opposition to the Bahraini government's ongoing trials of pro-democracy protesters. He was sentenced to life in prison n June 2011. Zainab al-Khawaja is scheduled for another hearing this weekend on other protest-related charges.

A Guatemalan judge ruled May 21 that former dictator Efrain Rios Montt will have a second genocide trial for ordering a 1982 massacre which killed 201 people. Judge Carol Patricia Flores found enough evidence linking Rios Montt to the Dos Erres massacre for another genocide trial. The massacre, which took place when about 20 soldiers were ordered to search a village for weapons, was one of the country's deadliest during the 36-year Guatemalan civil war. Rios Montt's defense lawyer argued that he was not present during the killings and, therefore, cannot be liable for the massacre. The prosecution maintains that the massacre was part of a military operation ordered by Rios Montt. The second genocide charge comes just months after Rios Montt's trial for the killing of 1,700 indigenous peasants.

Former Libyan chief of intelligence Abdullah al-Senussi will face charges of illegally entering the country of Mauritania, an anonymous source told Reuters on May 21. Al-Senussi, who served under Moammar Qaddafi, was arrested in Mauritania in March. A trial in the country will delay other international efforts to prosecute al Senussi. Libya's National Transitional Council, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and France have all requested custody of al-Senussi. The ICC issued arrest warrants for al-Senussi in June on charges of murder and persecution for planning attacks on civilians during the Libya conflict, but he is also suspected of organizing mass rapes. France requested custody because al-Senussi was sentenced to life in prison in France for his role in a 1989 plane bombing over Niger that killed 170 people, including 54 French citizens. Both members of Qadaffi's "inner circle," al-Senussi and Qadaffi's son Saif al-Islam, have now been arrested.

An Egyptian court on May 22 convicted five police officers in absentia for the death of protesters last year and sentenced each to 10 years in prison. The men were charged with killing protesters during the 2011 revolution. The conviction was a victory for victims' families who have seen many police acquitted on similar charges. Nearly 200 police officers and government officials, including former president Hosni Mubarak, have been charged in connection with the deaths of at least 846 protesters, but acquittals have been common. Last week, 14 police officers were acquitted on similar charges. Out of 10 cases, there have been nine acquittals and one suspended sentence, causing some critics to accuse authorities of failing to pursue justice for the victims. The verdict in Mubarak's case is due next month.

Mass arrests and incommunicado detentions persist at Camp Honor, a prison in Iraq's capital Baghdad that the Iraqi government promised to close last year, Human Rights Watch reported May 15. According to HRW, the Iraqi government is holding hundreds of detainees incommunicado for months at a time at Camp Honor, as well as two unnamed facilities in the Green Zone. Those being held at these facilities were reportedly rounded up by security troops who encircled neighborhoods and went door-to-door with a list of names of people to detain.

The Sri Lanka Police on May 13 released the names of thousands of people being held under that country's anti-terror laws. The release comes three years after the end of the country's 26-year civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The announcement is the first release of this type of information by the Sri Lankan government. This information release is likely in response to continued calls from the international community to address human rights concerns in the country. In March the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urged the government of Sri Lanka to adequately investigate alleged war crimes that occurred during the civil war.

The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh (ICTB) on May 13 indicted a former opposition leader for alleged human rights atrocities committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan. Ghulam Azam, 89, is the former head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. He opposed the independence of Bangladesh and reportedly aided the Pakistani Army during the war. Azam stands accused of crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, rape, arson and other international crimes carried out during the liberation conflict, in which Azam allegedly created and led violent pro-Pakistan militias. Azam is the third suspect and highest profile opposition figure to have been charged since the ICTB was established by Bangladesh in 2010. He claims that the charges against him are politically motivated. The trial is set to begin on June 5.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled 12-2 May 11 that the earlier dismissal of lawsuits against two Abu Ghraib contractors on the grounds that they have immunity as government contractors was premature. The court sent the cases against CACI International Inc and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc back to the district court for fact-specific scrutiny to determine the validity of their immunity claims. According to the en banc decision of the appeals court, the case must be remanded because, "[t]he appellants are requesting immunity in a context that has been heretofore unexplored. These are not disputes in which facts that might be material to the ultimate issue have been conclusively identified." Prior to the decision of the appeals court, the US Department of Justice filled an amicus brief claiming that torture claims are not subject to immunity and that the case should be remanded to the district court.