Syria has rejected calls from several nations to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a report adopted Oct. 11 by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The report also includes a number of recommendations to the country aimed at improving its human rights situation, which has been widely criticized since the regime began to crack down on anti-government protests early this year. In statements contained in the report, Syria asserts that the violence in the country is the result of "terrorist threats" prompted by "a media war" and "the hegemony of the West, the US and Israel." The government of President Bashar al-Assad is estimated to have killed 3,000 civilians since mid-March.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior Affairs and the National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Oct. 11 denied prisoner torture allegations made earlier this week in a UN report. A spokesperson for the Ministry said at a press conference that there was no basis for the report's findings and that publicizing such information could hurt the people's trust in the police. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) one day earlier released a report alleging that prisoners in some Afghan-run detention facilities have been beaten and tortured. The prisoners interviewed for the study had been detained by the NDS or Afghan National Police (ANP) forces for national security crimes. Nearly half of the 273 detainees interviewed reported that they had undergone interrogation that amounted to torture. UNAMA also alleged that NDS and ANP officials committed due process violations and arbitrarily detained arrestees but did acknowledge that the abuse was not the result of official government policy.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a motion in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta Oct. 7 to halt enforcement of a controversial Alabama law that expands restrictions on undocumented immigrants. The law requires school officials to verify the immigration status of children and parents, authorizes police to detain an individual and ask for papers if the officer has "reasonable suspicion" that the driver is in the country illegally, and requires businesses to use the federal E-Verify system to determine whether potential employees are legal residents.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) on Oct. 1 voiced concerns regarding the growing number of journalists killed in Mexico, and called for Mexican authorities to investigate these crimes and bring those responsible to justice. According to the journalists' rights group, Reporters without Borders (RSF), the discovery on Sept. 24 of the body of Maria Elizabeth Macias, editor of Primera Hora (Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas), marked the fourth woman journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year, as well as the eightieth journalist to be killed in the country within the last decade. The death of Macias is believed to be the result of her online blogging activity, which covered organized crime in her neighborhood.

The US Department of Defense on Sept. 28 officially referred charges against a high-profile Guantánamo Bay detainee who allegedly planned the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that left 17 sailors dead and 37 others injured. Saudi-born former millionaire Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will stand trial before a military tribunal at Guantánamo on nine terrorism, conspiracy and murder charges. Specifically al-Nashiri will be charged with orchestrating the attack on the Cole, during which two suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden boat into the guided missile destroyer, blowing a vast hole into its side.

Libyan leaders, including National Transitional Council (NTC) chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil, opened a three-day meeting in Benghazi Sept. 25 to begin a discussion regarding the formation of the country's interim government, which is to include a premier, vice premier and 22 ministers. As the NTC's troops continue to scour the country looking for ex-colonel Moammar Qaddafi, who has publicly announced his refusal to surrender, the transitional council continues to make progress within the international community. Last week, the new regime vowed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses after the World Bank recognized the NTC as the official government of Libya. The NTC was responding to an Amnesty International report asserting that both sides of the Libya conflict are responsible for human rights abuses, and warning the NTC to act quickly to investigate these claims. During a meeting in Paris earlier this month chaired by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, the NTC assured world leaders that Libya will be a society of tolerance and respect for the rule of law.

US counter-terrorism officials have indicated that the administration of President Barack Obama is considering trying the former leader of Hezbollah in a military commission on US soil, the Associated Press reported Sept. 26. According to anonymous officials, the Obama administration is considering the controversial move because they believe that the best place to try Ali Mussa Daqduq is a US military base. Daqduq was captured in Iraq in 2007, where he is currently being held. He is linked to a raid in Karbala, which killed four US soldiers, and is believed to have ties to Iran. If a US military tribunal hears the case, it will mark the first time a military commission has been held on US soil since 9-11. If no decision is made by the end of the year, Daqduq must be transferred to the custody of Iraqi officials according to a 2008 agreement between the US and Bagdad. Some have suggested that Daqduq be tried at Guantánamo Bay as an alternative to a trial in the US.

A soldier with the US Army was sentenced on Sept. 23 for his role in murdering an unarmed teenage Afghan civilian. Pvt. Andrew Holmes was sentenced to seven years in prison as part of a plea deal that he agreed to the day before. Holmes pleaded guilty to shooting the civilian, but pleaded not guilty to previous charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Holmes also pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing a finger bone of the victim and using marijuana. As part of the deal, Holmes will receive 499 days of time served and will be dishonorably discharged from the Army. Holmes is the third soldier to strike a plea deal of the five charged with murder as part of a plot contrived with fellow soldiers to kill Afghan civilians, which took place between January and May of last year in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. Holmes has alleged that his co-defendant, Spc. Jeremy Morlock, ordered soldiers to fire at villagers. Morlock pleaded guilty n March to three counts of murder, as well as one count each of assault, conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use in exchange for a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison.