The UN appointed a team of special prosecutors March 9 to investigate claims that Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi has ordered forces to torture and abduct opponents. An investigation was also launched last week by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into possible crimes against humanity. The new probe by special rapporteur for torture Juan Mendez will focus on accusations that Qaddafi has ordered hospital patients' executions, fired on protesters and used other extreme tactics against opponents. Describing complaints as "well-documented," Mendez has requested information from Qaddafi and stated that a lack of response will be noted in monthly reports to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Six Coptic Christians were shot dead and at least 45 injured in religious clashes with Muslims in the Egyptian capital March 9. Another Copt was killed in clashes with Muslims in Cairo the previous day, as some 1,000 Christians gathered to protest the burning of a church last week. The fighting broke out as dozens of Muslims showed up in the working-class district of Moqattam, inhabited by Copts who work as garbage collectors and who had blocked a main artery in the capital. People threw rocks from both sides and witnesses said soldiers at the scene fired shots into the air.

Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets on March 7 to protest against the kingdom's naturalization policy, which they say is aimed at changing the demographic balance in the Sunni-ruled but Shi'ite-majority country. Protesters marched on government immigration offices while chanting "Bahrain, free, free! Naturalized people get out!" as well as "The people want to topple the regime!" The Bahrain Youth Movement said in a statement that the demonstration was called to oppose "naturalization... to change the demographics of the country." (Middle East Online, March 9)

A Yemeni protester died of gunshot wounds March 9 after being hit when police opened fire overnight on anti-regime demonstrators outside Sanaa University. Three other demonstrators were also wounded by gunfire, while some 60 others were lightly hurt due to being beaten by police batons or inhaling tear gas, officials said, who also charged that 12 policemen were injured by rocks hurled by demonstrators. Police had intervened to prevent protesters from erecting tents in a street close to the University Square, where demonstrators have been camping since Feb. 21 in a protest demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled in power. (Middle East Online, March 9)

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Alaska refused March 7 to order ExxonMobil to pay an additional $92 million in damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Under a 1991 settlement agreement, Exxon paid $900 million in civil damages. The US and Alaskan government sought in 2006 to reopen the settlement agreement, saying more money was needed to clean up the crude oil that was still tainting Prince William Sound. Environmental activist Rick Steiner had filed a motion seeking court intervention to bring the re-opener process to a close. Judge H. Russel Holland, who has presided over much of the litigation stemming from 1989 spill, found that the US and Alaskan governments appeared to be close to reaching an agreement with ExxonMobil, refusing to order the payment.

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 7 issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of a recent Ecuadoran court judgment against US oil company Chevron. The injunction blocks plaintiffs from attempting to secure $8.6 billion in damages from the company, which were awarded last month by the Provincial Court of Sucumbios after finding that Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, polluted large areas of Ecuador's rainforest.

On March 8, International Women's Day 2011, the voices of many prominent human rights defenders were absent from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Within the past 14 months, human rights campaigner Josefina Reyes, poet Susana Chávez and activist mother Marisela Escobedo all have been murdered, while Cipriana Jurado of the Worker Solidarity and Research Center (CISO) and Paula Flores have been forced to flee the city.

Some 20 prisoners escaped in Burkina Faso on March 8 after middle and high school students set four police stations on fire to protest the killing of four youth by police last month. The police stations were burned down in the towns of Yako, Koupela, Gourcy and Dori. Peaceful protests were held in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second city, and six other towns. Six people, including four students and a police officer, were killed in riots in late February in the town of Koudougou, 100 kilometers west of the capital Ouagadougou, after a student died in disputed circumstances. (SAPA, March 8)