The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Sept. 8 affirmed a district court's dismissal of a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a Boeing subsidiary in connection with its alleged role in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "extraordinary rendition" program.

The Criminal Chamber of Spain's Supreme Court unanimously confirmed on Sept. 7 a lower court finding that National Court judge Baltasar Garzón abused his power and must face trial. Garzón was charged in April for his attempt to investigate the war crimes allegedly committed under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War—charges Garzón claims were politically motivated. The board of judges denied Garzón's appeal of the order, and he will now face trial later this year. The judges found that the witnesses called by Garzón will produce merely personal opinions and also determined that exhumation of 19 mass graves that Garzón ordered in 2008 was inappropriate. The ruling comes just days after an Argentine court reopened an investigation into Franco-era war crimes.

The US Department of Justice announced Sept. 1 that it has charged Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimulla Mehsud in connection with the Dec. 30 attack on CIA Afghan outpost Camp Chapman that left nine people dead. Mehsud identifies himself as the head of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer on Aug. 27 called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove any mention of Arizona and its passage of SB 1070 from a human rights report issued by the State Department. The report, submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as part of a universal review, discussed the passage and current injunction of portions of SB 1070 within a section entitled, "A commitment to values in engagements across our borders." Brewer's sternly-worded letter called inclusion of any mention of SB 1070 "offensive" in light of the membership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), including Cuba and Libya.

US military judge Army Col. Patrick Parrish rejected claims by Canadian Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr that his confession was a product of torture, in a ruling released Aug. 20. Khadr's lawyers had argued that his statements were illegally obtained through threats of rape and death by interrogators. Parrish rejected the suppression motion, finding:

A military court in Iran has ordered the suspension of three top judiciary officials in connection with last year's torture deaths of three detained protesters, the Mehr News Agency reported Aug. 23. The three victims, Mohammad Kamrani, Amir Javadi-far and Mohsen Ruholamini, were tortured and beaten to death at the Kahrizak detention center after being arrested during anti-government protests that followed last year's disputed presidential election. According to an anonymous source, three unidentified officials at the Tehran prosecutor's office have been suspended and stripped of their judicial immunity after a lengthy investigation into the case. The move clears the way for the three officials to face trial.

Indonesian authorities on Aug. 11 charged well-known radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir with aiding an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist cell. Bashir, who was arrested Aug. 9 is accused of operating a terrorist training camp in the mountains of the northwestern province of Aceh to prepare Islamic radicals to carry out attacks in the capital of Jakarta.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Aug. 11 that it will conduct an investigation into the May flotilla incident, in which Israeli forces raided several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip. The investigatory commission will operate under the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will prepare a report to be presented to the UN panel established earlier this month to investigate the incident.