A spokesperson for the UK's Metropolitan Police Service last week confirmed the arrest of a 46-year-old Peruvian national on suspicion of crimes against humanity and torture. He is suspected of involvement with the Shining Path, a Maoist guerilla organization, believed to be responsible for the deaths of thousands in two decades of conflict in Peru. The man, whose name has yet to be released, was arrested on March 15 and is being held while police conduct searches of several addresses in the area linked to him. The man is the first to be arrested under the Coroners and Justice Act of 2009, which allows UK courts to hear cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by nonresidents between 1991 and 2001.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), along with five co-sponsors, introduced legislation March 10 that would prohibit funding for civilian trials of Guantánamo Bay detainees and place restrictions on the transfer of detainees to foreign countries. The Military Detainee Procedures Improvement Act of 2011 would require "greater scrutiny on the security situation and ability of the host country to monitor a detainee" after transfer from Guantánamo. It also purports to "[r]eaffirm[] the President's authority to detain members of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and affiliated terrorist groups based on the authority granted by Congress in the Authorization for Use of Military Force." The legislation would require members of terrorists groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban to be held in military custody when captured, and require annual review of whether detainees can be released.

The UN appointed a team of special prosecutors March 9 to investigate claims that Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi has ordered forces to torture and abduct opponents. An investigation was also launched last week by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into possible crimes against humanity. The new probe by special rapporteur for torture Juan Mendez will focus on accusations that Qaddafi has ordered hospital patients' executions, fired on protesters and used other extreme tactics against opponents. Describing complaints as "well-documented," Mendez has requested information from Qaddafi and stated that a lack of response will be noted in monthly reports to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Alaska refused March 7 to order ExxonMobil to pay an additional $92 million in damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Under a 1991 settlement agreement, Exxon paid $900 million in civil damages. The US and Alaskan government sought in 2006 to reopen the settlement agreement, saying more money was needed to clean up the crude oil that was still tainting Prince William Sound. Environmental activist Rick Steiner had filed a motion seeking court intervention to bring the re-opener process to a close. Judge H. Russel Holland, who has presided over much of the litigation stemming from 1989 spill, found that the US and Alaskan governments appeared to be close to reaching an agreement with ExxonMobil, refusing to order the payment.

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 7 issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of a recent Ecuadoran court judgment against US oil company Chevron. The injunction blocks plaintiffs from attempting to secure $8.6 billion in damages from the company, which were awarded last month by the Provincial Court of Sucumbios after finding that Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, polluted large areas of Ecuador's rainforest.

US President Barack Obama on March 7 issued an executive order allowing military commissions for Guantánamo Bay detainees to resume. New charges in the military commission system have been suspended since shortly after Obama took office in 2009. The new order also establishes a procedure for establishing a review process for detainees who have not been charged, convicted or designated for transfer. In a statement, Obama said:

Muslim student Yasir Afifi and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit against the FBI on March 2 after Afifi discovered a global positioning system (GPS) device on the undercarriage of his car. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that Afifi's rights were violated when FBI agents attempted to retrieve their tracking device, without explanation for why Afifi was being tracked. Afifi's suit alleges civil rights and constitutional violations, specifically unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment, chilling and recording of First Amendment activities, and unlawful agency action:

A special court in India sentenced 11 Muslims to death Feb. 28 in connection with the Godhra train burning in 2002 that killed 59 Hindu nationalists and started the 2002 Gujarat riots. Special judge PR Patel handed down death sentences for 11 of 31 convicted last week of murder, attempted murder and/or criminal conspiracy. The remaining 20 all received sentences of life imprisonment, and 63 others were acquitted. The convictions were for setting on fire the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express, killing 59 people, mostly Vishwa Hindu Parishad members, returning from Ayodhya. The incident triggered riots in Gujarat in which more than 1,200 people were killed, mostly Muslims, in some of the worst violence between Hindus and Muslims in India since independence in 1947. The prosecution had sought the death penalty for all 31 convicted. The defense plans to appeal the death sentences and is prepared to take the matter to India's highest court.