In July, Bangladesh prosecutors filed the underlying war crime charges [JURIST report] in the ICTB against Sayedee. Earlier that month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] praised recent reforms [press release] to the ICTB but urged it to do more to ensure fair trials, including allowing an accused to question the impartiality of the tribunal, which the law currently prohibits. In July 2010, the ICTB issued four arrest warrants [JURIST report] for the leaders of Jamaat e Islami, including Sayedee, for alleged crimes committed during the Liberation War. Bangladesh established the tribunal in March 2010 [JURIST report] to address charges of war crimes [Guardian report] and crimes against humanity.

Earlier this month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] urged [statement] the international community to take steps to protect civilian lives in Syria [JURIST report], where more than 3,000 civilians have been killed since protests against the government began. This statement followed a report from a UN commission urging [statement] Syrian authorities to allow human rights experts to conduct an investigation [JURIST report] into allegations of human rights violations. In August, Pillay called on the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official websites] to investigate the violent suppression of anti-government protests [JURIST report]. Pillay's remarks came after the Fact-finding Mission in Syria published its 22-page report concluding that Syrian government forces cracking down on the opposition may be committing crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. The Fact-finding Mission was established [JURIST report] by the UN Human Rights Council [official website] in April but was not permitted to enter the country.

Last month, under pressure from AI, Kashmir promised to take steps to identify [JURIST report] the thousands of bodies that were found in mass and single graves by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) [official website]. Kashmir's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah [personal website] announced that officials will carry out DNA tests on the thousands of bodies recently uncovered in unmarked graves in the country's northern region. Abdullah called for families of missing persons to provide DNA samples [BBC report] for testing. The SHRC had also called for an investigation into the identities of the remains, but, according to AI, their calls have been ignored. An additional 574 bodies were found, but those were later identified by local residents. Kashmir has remained rife with unrest since it became part of India [JURIST report] in the middle of the twentieth century. Kashmir and Jammu, which is officially part of India, has been disputed between Pakistan and India since 1947. Claims by both Pakistan and India to the territory have resulted in several conflicts in the region, particularly the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947-1948 and 1965. In addition, there was a large show of military force by both nations in the region in 2002 that caused international alarm because both nations have nuclear weapons. India has sought to stifle unrest and a burgeoning separatist movement in the region by detaining human rights and political activists.

The ability of the ICC to negotiate a possible surrender of Saif al-Islam is a result of his desire to avoid the fate of his father, who was killed by opposition fighters [JURIST report] earlier this month. On Monday, Interim Libyan leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil [official profile] ordered an investigation into Gaddafi's death. He said that the National Transition Council [official website] has formed a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding Gaddafi's capture and death in his hometown of Sirte. Abdul-Jalil's statement came amid pressure [JURIST report] from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website], rights groups including Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] and international governments for an official investigation. Cell phone videos [WARNING: graphic images] taken during Gaddafi's capture have surfaced depicting wounded and bloodied Gaddafi alive but enduring torment and beatings by his captors while being carried and placed into the back of a truck. An autopsy confirmed that Gaddafi died from a gun shot wound to the head [AP report], but Abdul-Jalil suggested Monday that Gaddafi may have been killed by his own supporters [AP report] to prevent him from implicating them in any crimes under his regime.