The representative to Colombia for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Dec. 8 reiterated his call for a peaceful solution to the country's ongoing armed conflict. Christian Salazar made his remarks at a press conference following an announcement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) stating plans to move forward with the unilateral release of hostages currently being held by the rebels. Last month, a military raid led to the deaths of four FARC hostages, apparently killed by their captors during the fighting. But Salazar stated he believed FARC's plan to release other hostages signaled a new phase of hostage liberation that might help lead both sides to a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. However Salazar recognized at the press conference that at this point even talking about the armed conflict in Colombia was "extremely sensitive." To that end Salazar also praised the actions of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has maintained an open line of dialogue between FARC and the Colombian government, which Salazar held as important to preventing a longterm "spiral of violence" in the country. The rebels announced their plans for the upcoming hostage release in a missive to former Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba earlier this month.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Dec. 6 urged all sides in Yemen to cease ongoing deadly attacks and live up to previous commitments to investigate the serious human rights violations of its former government. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), meanwhile condemned all Yemeni factions after claiming that as many as 22 people have been killed in the city of Taiz by shootings and shellings since Dec. 1, including two children. Despite tanks withdrawing from the city under a ceasefire pact to end violence that has consumed the country for nearly 10 months, witnesses and activists have claimed that forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh shot and killed a woman protester in Taiz just this week. Shamdasani added that the ongoing severity of the clashes between armed rebels and the Yemeni army warrant an immediate intervention by the OHCHR. She called on Yemeni government officials to allow a UN investigation as soon as possible. The Yemeni government has yet to issue a response.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Dec. 2 urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian government. Pillay said that during the eight-month uprising the death toll in Syria has surpassed 4,000 with tens of thousands arrested and over 14,000 detained as a result of the crackdown. The Human Rights Council established an Independent International Commission of Inquiry to investigate the human rights violations in Syria during the eight-month uprising. Pillay stated:

A Tunisian military court on Nov. 30 convicted former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in absentia on torture charges. Ben Ali and eight others were found guilty of the torture of 17 military generals in connection with a 1991 coup attempt. Ben Ali was sentenced to five years in prison. This week's sentence adds to a 35-year prison sentence handed down in June after his conviction in absentia on charges of theft and illegal possession of money, jewelry, drugs and weapons. Ben Ali, who remains in exile in Saudi Arabia, has denied the charges against him. His most recent conviction resulted from the first trial held against a former Tunisian government official since the new democratically-elected government took power earlier this year.

A team of investigators from the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrived in Libya on Nov. 30 to begin an inquiry into new allegations of sex crimes committed by loyalists of former leader Moammar Qaddafi. Jane O'Toole is leading the ICC investigation into allegations that Qaddafi ordered mass rapes and provided troops with sexual stimulants for the purpose of enforcing an official rape policy. According to chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC has evidence that rape was used to punish women, instill fear and subdue the population. Ocampo stated his investigation is nearly finished, and the results of this investigation may be used to file additional charges against Libya's chief of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, among others. It has been alleged that al-Senussi was involved in the ordering and organizing of mass rapes.

An estimated 7,000 detainees are still being held without due process by Libyan revolutionaries, according to a UN report made public Nov. 28. The report to the UN Security Council, by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, says that most of the prisoners are being held in facilities maintained by independent brigades not under the control of the government, and that there have been allegations of abuse of prisoners. The report says that many of the prisoners are Black Africans suspected of being mercenaries for former Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. Among the alleged abuses of prisoners there have been allegations of torture, targeting individuals based on race, detaining women in facilities with all-male guards, and detaining children in facilities alongside adults. Ban urged immediate action to end the abuse of prisoners:

Nobel peace laureate Tawakkul Karman on Nov. 28 uged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct an investigation into the violent crackdown on dissent and alleged human rights violations by the country's former president, Ali Abdullah Sakeh. Although Karman presented ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo with a file on crimes she believes were committed by Saleh's regime, the Nobel laureate was also quick to acknowledge that her plea will likely fail due to the fact that Yemen has not signed the court's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, and is therefore not a member of the ICC. Consequently, the only way the prosecutor can begin such an investigation is if the UN Security Council instructs him to do so. While the Security Council has yet to make such an order, it has issued a statement on Yemen reiterating that "all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses should be held accountable." Saleh stepped down as president last week in a deal that would grant immunity to the country's former leader.

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Nov. 23 that the ICC would allow Libya to conduct the trial of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of late Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. Despite concern from human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, about whether Saif al-Islam Qaddafi can receive a fair trial in Libya, Ocampo said he trusts the new Libyan government will be able to try him fairly and maintained that the ICC will not intervene as long as it does not stray from ICC standards. The ICC issued a statement clarifying that, "[s]hould the Libyan authorities wish to conduct national prosecutions against the suspect, they shall submit a challenge to the admissibility of the case before Pre-Trial Chamber I... Any decision on the admissibility of a case is under the sole competence of the Judges of the ICC." On the issue of the trial of Moammar Qaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, Ocampo denied reports by Libya's National Transitional Council that he had been captured.