On Oct. 21, the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia affirmed, in the well-known Blackwater/Xe case, that the murder of civilians in connection with an armed conflict overseas is actionable in a US court under the controversial Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789. The court relied on the universal acceptance, everywhere in the world, of Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibits the murder of civilians in an armed conflict.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a resolution Oct. 23 in the case of Karmelo Landa, a Basque nationalist arrested by Spanish earlier this year in Bilbao on charges of "collaboration" with the outlawed political party Batasuna. The resolution found that "the only accusation against Mr. Landa (possible membership in Batasuna's national executive) without expressly identifying any kind of role promoting criminal or terrorist activities, means that his arrest and imprisonment is based only in being a member of an illegal party. This is not a crime, but exercise of a human right recognized both by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 19, 20, 21) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Art. 18, 19, 22)." The resolution called on Spain to immediately "remedy the situation." (Euskal Herria News, Gara, Bilbao, Oct. 23)

Detectives from the Czech Republic's Organized Crime Detection Unit (ÚOOZ) charged 18 with the criminal offense of promoting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights following house raids Oct. 21 in Dobříš, Prague, Kladno and Tábor, in which a total of 24 were arrested. ÚOOZ head Robert Šlachta said those arrested belong to the organizations White Justice and National Resistance, and are suspected of preparing a terrorist attack. Among those charged is Patrik Vondrák, leader of the right-wing Workers' Party in Prague. All but two were released on their own recognizance. (Romea, Prague, Oct. 23)

More than 1,100 agents from the FBI and local police agencies conducted pre-dawn raids on 47 residences across South Los Angeles Oct. 22, arresting 74 suspected members of the Rolling 40s street gang. "They have a vise grip on the neighborhood, and we are going to release that grip this morning," Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese of the Los Angeles Police Department said of the gang. More than 30 of those detained face federal charges that could carry sentences from 20 years to life. The sweep was the culmination of an 18-month investigation. The FBI said more than 500 people have been arrested since May in 10 Southern California anti-gang sweeps. (AP, Oct. 22)

Staging raids in 38 cities across 19 states, the Justice Department claimed a major blow against the stateside networks of Mexico's La Familia Michoacana narco gang this week. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Oct. 22 announced the arrests of 303 people in the past two days, the culmination of a four-year investigation dubbed "Operation Coronado."

The Guatemalan coast guard, with assistance from the US Navy, seized a small submarine carrying 10 tons of cocaine Oct. 22. Officials say the sub was operated by three Colombian and one Mexican citizens. A statement from the Guatemalan interior ministry said the sub was detained some 180 nautical miles off Puerto Quetzal in the south of Escuintla. It marks the first time a submarine filled with drugs has been apprehended by law enforcement in Guatemala, and may be the largest drug bust the country has seen.

The US military is providing intelligence and surveillance video from drones to assist the Pakistani army in its anti-Taliban offensive in South Waziristan, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing unnamed Washington officials. "We are coordinating with the Pakistanis," one official said. "And we do provide Predator support when requested." (LAT, Oct. 23)

Iran's Justice Ministry’s announced Oct. 20 that Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the post-electoral protests. Tajbakhsh appeared at a mass trial of opposition leaders, accused of contacting foreign agents and endangering national security. During the trial, Tajbakhsh provided a vague confession which rights groups suspect was coerced, outlining his role in fomenting resistance to the June election in Iran.