A lawyer for the International Criminal Court (ICC) who was recently released from detention in Libya stated July 6 that she did not believe Libya could hold a fair trial for Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of former Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. Melinda Taylor was detained by Libyan authorities for nearly four weeks for allegedly passing illicit information to Saif al-Islam in a Libyan prison. She maintains that her detention in the country was unjustified. Taylor and three other ICC staff members were detained by Libyan authorities while on an official mission to meet with Saif al-Islam and assist with his legal defense. The ICC has expressed concern about Libya's ability to give Saif al-Islam a fair trial since he was captured by Libyan rebel forces in November. Taylor said the actions of Libyan authorities have demonstrated that they are incapable of holding a fair and impartial trial.

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla was condemned to 50 years in prison on July 5 for the abduction of babies of "disappeared" dissidents. The Federal Oral Tribunal 6 in Buenos Aires found that Videla oversaw of a "systematic practice" of seizing the offspring of dissidents who were captured while pregnant, estimating some 400 such cases. Videla was found directly criminally liable for 35 cases. Another former dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, was sentenced to 15 years on related charges. Most of the mothers were held at ESMA—the notorious Naval Mechanics School in Buenos Aires. Eight other former officers involved in overseeing the ESMA were also convicted and sentenced to between 10 and 40 years. Two were acquitted. Videla and Bignone are both in their 80s, and were already serving life terms for the abduction and torture of dissidents. (Clarin, Buenos Aires, July 6; BBC News, AFP, July 5)

On July 4, Sendero Luminoso guerillas attacked the Peruvian army's Counter-terrorist Base Number 42 at Canayre, Huanta province, Ayacucho region, in the Apurímac-Ene River Valley (VRAE), leaving one solider dead. On June 29, in a rare attack outside the VRAE, Sendero guerillas attacked Counter-terrorist Base Number 43 at Cachibamba Grande, Pampas Tayacaja province, Huancavelica region, leaving one soldier wounded. (Notimex, July 4; Correo, RPP, June 29)

Bolivian police used tear gas, pepper spray and blasts from a water cannon mounted on an armored vehicle against protesters at the camp established by the Ninth Indigenous March just off Plaza Murillo, the central square in La Paz, on July 5. "They have gassed children and indigenous of the Ninth March, they have soaked our beds," said march leader Bertha Bejarano, calling upon the people of La Paz to mobilize for the "physical defense" of the protest camp. Interior vice-minister Jorge Pérez said the police were responding to the arrival at the camp of a contingent from the local anarcho-feminist group Mujeres Creando, who he said threw rotten fruits and vegetables at the police. "There was no order, and there was no police repression," he said. "What happened was a natural reaction on the part of the police, who were attacked in a violent manner. We aren't justifying violence by any side, but those who came to savagely attack the integrity of the police was this group of ladies." A statement from Mujeres Creando said "the protest was peaceful, but we suffered repression from the police." (ANF, Erbol, La Razón, La Paz, Opinión, Cochabamba, July 5)

A Japanese expert panel on July 5 issued a report claiming that the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was preventable. In the 641-page document the panel claims that the accident was not caused solely by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, but the inability of the government, regulators and the Fukushima Daiichi plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), to act quickly enough to prevent the disaster. Among the criticized was also the then-Prime Minster Naoto Kan who resigned last year after a widespread criticism of his handling of the natural disaster and Fukushima nuclear crisis. The experts claimed that regulators have failed to adopt global safety standards that could have prevented the crisis.

With three provinces of Peru's northern Cajamarca region under a state of emergency, police again fired on protesters July 4 in Bambamarca, seat of Hualgayoc province, leaving one man dead. Another six were wounded, at least some gravely, although accounts do not make clear if the wounds are from bullets. Authorities said one National Police officer was also injured in the confrontation in the town's Plaza de Armas. (Perú21, Peru.com, Sociedad Política, July 4) Meanwhile in Cajamarca's regional capital, protest leader Marco Arana was detained by police troops for continuing to call public meetings despite emergency measures restricting freedom of assembly. Arana was reportedly accosted by police while sitting on a bench in the city's central square, the Plaza de Armas. He is still being held at the city's National Police headquarters, but did manage to get out a Twitter message saying he had been badly roughed up in custody—struck in the face and kidneys, and verbally insulted. (La Republica, 24 Horas, Radio Nacional, El Comercio, RPP, July 4)

A delegation of senior British jurists last week released a report finding Israel's treatment of Palestinian children in custody violates international law. The report charges that Israel is in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on at least six counts and of the Fourth Geneva Convention on at least two counts. The study, "Children in Military Custody," was funded and backed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and written by an ad hoc group including a former attorney general, a former court of appeal judge and several prominent attorneys.

Rights advocates and left-wing political parties in India are demanding a judicial inquiry into the June 27 massacre of 19 adivasi (tribal) villagers in a remote part of Chhattisgarh state. Advocates are also demanding the government suspend its combing operations and initiate peace talks with the Naxalite rebels. The massacre took place in the forests of Silger, Bijapur district, when a contingent of some 300 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops allegedly uncovered a Naxalite meeting at Kottaguda panchayat (village). A 15-year-old girl was among the dead. Authorities say the villagers fired first, and that six CRPF troops were wounded in the clash. Two villagers have been detained. The violence took place near Chintalnar, Dantewada district, where Naxals carried out their biggest ever attack on security forces, killing 75 CRPF troops and one state police agent in April 2010. (Times of India, July 3; IBN, July 2; PTI, June 30; PTI, June 29)