The police eviction of a family in a working-class district of Peru's northern city of Cajamarca left one  dead and 10 detained Oct. 30. A court ordered the eviction of the family from their home in the city's Diego Ferré district, ruling that a new owner had bought the property at auction. But the family resisted eviction by a squad of riot police, leading to clashes outside the home. Resident Fidel Flores Vásquez, who the family considered the legitimate owner of the house, was shot by police as he stood on the building's roof, and died on the way to the hospital. Video showed police brutalizing and arresting family members who attempted to come his aid as he lay mortally wounded on the rooftop. A fracas with neighborhood residents subsequently erupted, in which police used tear-gas, and three officers were reported wounded. Residents later marched on the local headquarters of DRINCRI, the special investigative police force that carried out the raid. (RPP, Andina, Oct. 30)

Peru's special anti-terrorist force DIRCOTE on Oct. 29 announced the arrest in the Lima district of Surquillo of an operative of the militant group Hezbollah. The Interior Ministry said Lebanese national Muhamad Amadar was planning to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in Peru, including the Israeli embassy, Chabad houses and Jewish community centers, and locations popular with Israeli backpackers. Explosives and weapons were reportedly turned up in a search of Amadar's apartment. Media reports suggest he was attempting to establish a cell in Peru linked to the supposed Hezbollah network in the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil Triple Border area. Under interrogation, Amadar denied any ties to Hezbollah and claimed he was on his way to the US, to meet with his Peruvian-American wife. (i24, Israel, YNet, Oct. 30; RPP, Oct. 29)

Bashar Assad can only be taking perverse joy at Turkey's attempt to play an Arab-versus-Kurdish divide-and-rule card, seeking to isolate the Kurds from the Arab-led Syrian opposition. There was an advance for this stratagem today, as a Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander said it was wrong to send rebel forces to the ISIS-besieged Kurdish town of Kobani when Aleppo was besieged by Assad regime forces. Nizar al-Khatib told a group of journalists at a press conference in Istanbul: "I am criticizing this decision because we need these forces in the other fronts in Aleppo. The situation is very critical in Aleppo right now, regime forces have been surrounding the city for some time." (Hurriyet Daily News)

A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Oct. 29 sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Motiur Rahman Nizami to death for crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War with Pakistan. The former Cabinet minister was tried on charges that included genocide, rape, murder and torture, and was accused of personally carrying out or ordering the deaths of nearly 600 Bangladeshis while serving as supreme commander of the Al-Badr militia. The JI party has released a statement denouncing the verdict, and the defense has announced its plan to appeal, contending that the charges were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that the tribunal went beyond its jurisdiction.

Rival militias in Libya are committing serious human rights abuses, including war crimes, according to an Amnesty International (AI) report released Oct. 30. According to AI, since July 2013, "militias and armed groups have launched indiscriminate attacks in urban areas of the capital, Warshafana (southwest of Tripoli) and Zawiya with complete disregard for civilians and civilian objects, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to seek protection in safer parts of Libya or across its international borders." The report cites UN High Commission for Refuges data showing that since October of this year 287,000 people have been displaced in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi and surrounding areas. According to AI,100,000 people are estimated to have fled Libya to neighboring countries. In addition to allegations of indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, the AI report also contains allegations of widespread civilian kidnappings carried out by all parties to the conflict. Civilians and captured militia members have provided AI with detailed accounts of torture and ill-treatment in captivity including, "prolonged beatings...electric shock, [and being] suspended in contorted positions for hours." The AI report also provides detailed accounts of alleged summary killings and attacks targeting human rights workers and journalists.

A British court ruled (PDF) Oct. 30 that a former Libyan rebel commander can sue the British government for its alleged role in his detention and rendition. In 2004, Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife were arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, and returned to Muammar Qaddafi's Libya, where he spent years in prison. Belhaj first filed the lawsuit in 2012. Last year the British High Court threw out the claim, saying it was not a matter for the British courts and barred by the Acts of State doctrine. However, the Court of Appeal has now found that the claim is not barred because "it falls within a limitation on grounds of public policy in cases of violations of international law and fundamental human rights." The court went on to state that "[u]nless the English courts were able to exercise jurisdiction in this case, these very grave allegations would go uninvestigated and the appellants would be left without any legal recourse or remedy." Along with the British government, Belhaj is attempting to sue former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), known as M16, for alleged complicity with US intelligence over his treatment.

In its ever more blatant attempt to play an Arab-versus-Kurdish divide-and-rule card, Turkey now says it wants the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to control the ISIS-besieged border town of Kobani if the jihadists are defeated—not the Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units (YPG) that have actually been leading the defense of Kobani. In an interview with the BBC broadcast Oct. 28, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called for an "integrated strategy" with the United States to equip and train the FSA and oust Assad from power, as a condition of Turkey openinig its military bases and otherwise cooperating in the effort against ISIS. He said the US should commit to a plan for "a new pluralistic and democratic Syria." This stance has won Turkey recent support from the Syrian opposition, which justly fears being sold out to Assad by the US once ISIS is defeated. But Davutoglu made clear that Turkey would not accept the PKK-aligned YPG in power on its southern border: "If ISIS leaves the PKK terrorists should not come," he said. (AFP, Oct. 28) He did not make clear how the YPG is to be usurped from the territory by the FSA without exploding the nascent alliance between the two, or even fomenting war between them—which is pretty clearly the Turkish design.

Militant group Boko Haram has forced kidnapped women and girls to marry their captors and begun using them for military tactical purposes, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Oct. 27. HRW interviewed 30 individuals who were abducted by the group between April 2013 and April 2014 and later managed to escape, and 16 others who saw the abductions. Among those interviewed were 12 girls who were among the approximately 300 abducted from a school in Chibok in April. According to the advocacy group, more than 500 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram since 2009, about 30 of whom were taken just last week. The group, taken from Borno state, included girls as young as 11. At least 40 women and girls were taken in Adamawa a week prior, despite government claims of a ceasefire deal. Once at the camps, the kidnapped girls are reportedly forced to perform household chores and are often exposed to rape, forced marriage and violence. One woman recounted that she was threatened with death until she converted to Islam. HRW criticized authorities for not doing enough to prevent the kidnappings, for not working to bring the perpetrators to justice, and for not providing survivors with adequate support and medical care.