Official corruption has long been a problem in Guatemala, and there has been recent disagreement over whether CICIG is serving its purpose, with some arguing that it has overstepped its mandate [AP report]. However, the commission has been busy prosecuting alleged criminals. In June, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court [official website, in Spanish] removed Attorney General Conrado Reyes from office after the former head of CICIG, Carlos Castresana, accused him of ties to organized crime [JURIST reports]. In March, following an 11-month investigation with CICIG, Guatemalan authorities arrested two high-ranking police officials [JURIST report] tasked with leading the country's war on drugs on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. Also in March, the US State Department released its 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report [text, PDF], which highlighted Guatemala as a key player in the Latin American drug trade. Corruption among high-ranking officials was cited as one of the country's biggest problems. The Guatemalan Congress voted to create CICIG [JURIST report] in 2007 in order to investigate organized crime and official corruption.

Several other nations have also been conducting piracy trials. Earlier this week, a German court began the trial [JURIST report] of 10 suspected Somali pirates in that country's first piracy trial in 400 years. Last month, a Yemeni court sentenced [JURIST report] a group of 10 Somali pirates to five years in prison. Recently, the high court of Mombasa ruled that Kenya does not have jurisdiction [JURIST report] outside of its national waters, releasing nine suspected Somali pirates. The ruling could have implications for future piracy prosecutions, as Kenyan courts have handled the bulk of piracy trials. Other nations that have conducted such trials include the Netherlands, Seychelles and Mauritius [JURIST reports].

The Obama administration filed a brief [text, PDF; JURIST report] earlier this month asking the US Supreme Court [official website] not to rescind the stay preventing suspension of the military's DADT policy. The filing was in response to a petition filed a week earlier [text; JURIST report] by the Log Cabin Republicans [advocacy website] asking the court to overturn the indefinite extension [order, PDF; JURIST report] of a temporary stay [JURIST report] issued by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website]. The government asked the court not to interrupt the policy while it is being considered in lower courts. The filing noted that Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [official profile] oppose the policy, but also stressed their support for the repeal of the policy through legislative measures, citing the need for deliberation, advance planning and training before transitioning from the 17-year-old policy. Also this month, Gates called on the 112th Congress to repeal DADT [JURIST report], and, in October, he issued a memorandum limiting the authority to discharge openly gay service members [JURIST report] to five senior Department of Defense officials. Since the enactment of DADT in 1993, approximately 13,000 servicemen and women have been discharged from the armed forces as a result of the policy.

Courts and legislatures around the world have struggled with the increasingly prevalent issue of GM crops. In June, the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] in Monsanto Company v. Geerston Seed Farms [Cornell LII backgrounder] that a trial court abused its discretion when it issued a nationwide injunction against a genetically modified alfalfa seed. The trial court sought to remedy a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [EPA materials] violation based on only a remote possibility of reparable harm. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held [opinion, PDF] that NEPA plaintiffs are specially exempt from the requirement of showing a likelihood of irreparable harm to obtain an injunction, affirming the nationwide injunction. Justice Samuel Alito, writing the opinion of the court, reversed the circuit court's ruling, stating that NEPA violations, absent unusual circumstances, are not exempt from the standard four-factor test to determine the availability of injunctive relief.

In September, a Kyrgyz court issued the first convictions [JURIST report] in connection with the June 2010 riots, handing down prison terms for eight ethnic Uzbeks in a case stemming from the murder of a Kyrgyz police officer during the violence. Judge Nurgazy Alymkulov of the Nooken District Court [GlobaLex backgrounder] sentenced five to life terms [RFE/RL report] on charges of murder, fomenting ethnic hatred, instigating violence and organizing public unrest. Two others were sentenced to 20 years in prison, and the last was sentenced to nine. Among those given life sentences was prominent Uzbek human rights activist Azimjan Askarov. The convictions were later described as politically motivated [Reuters report]. In July, the Kyrgyz government announced that it had opened more than 1,000 criminal cases [JURIST report] stemming from the violence, and that 106 individuals had been detained, with 97 in custody. Also in July, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva [Telegraph profile] established a commission [JURIST report] to investigate the ethnic violence against the country's Uzbek population.

Anwar is currently facing trial on charges of sodomizing his former aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008. He has described the charges as a farce aimed at preventing him from taking his seat in Parliament [official website] following gains made by his party in the 2008 elections. He pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] in February. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] urged the Malaysian government to drop all charges [JURIST report] against Anwar. HRW alleges that the trial has been "plagued by serious due process problems and government interference" and that the government should therefore drop all charges against Anwar. Earlier that month, the Malaysian Federal Court rejected Anwar's claim [JURIST reports] that his 1998 removal from office was unconstitutional. He recently reentered Malaysian politics following the expiration of a 10-year ban [JURIST report] against him for unrelated corruption charges.