The Constitutional Court of Ecuador on Oct. 31 ruled (PDF) that congress may vote on a proposal to allow unlimited re-election terms. The case was brought to the court by the ruling Alianza Pais, which proposed indefinite re-election for elected officials in June. It is anticipated that lawmakers will vote in favor of the proposal since Alianza Pais controls 100 of 137 seats in the National Assembly. If the law is enacted, Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa will be able to run for a third term. In its decision, the court also approved several amendments that had been voted for by lawmakers, including making communication a "public service," authorizing the army to help police with security in the interior of the country, and reducing to minimum age to be elected president from 35 to 30.

A Nigerian federal court on Oct. 30 ruled in favor of the Bring Back Our Girls group, saying that the police had no right to block protests in Nigeria. Earlier this year, the Bring Back Our Girls activists began daily sit-ins at the Unity Fountain in the capital city Abuja to press their demands for the release of the 219 school girls that were abducted by insurgents in Chibok. Soon after, former Federal Capital Territory (FTC) Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu banned the group from holding further protests. In the new ruling, Justice Ebenezer Aladetoyinbo declared the law does not authorize the police to disrupt rallies or processions about the abducted girls. The judgment is applauded as a victory for the group. It is unclear whether the police will appeal, but the lawyer for the police said that the judgment would be studied.

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.

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.

A Bahrain court on Oct. 28 ordered the country's main Shi'ite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, to suspend all activities. Bahrain's Ministry of Justice filed the lawsuit in July. The ruling means that Al-Wefaq cannot operate for three months in the Gulf island kingdom. The group cannot organize rallies or press conferences, issue statements or use its offices. Earlier this month Al-Wefaq announced it would boycott Nov. 22 elections because it felt that the government did not genuinely engage in reconciliations efforts following protests to the Sunni monarchy in 2011. The group plans to appeal the decision.

A court in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 27 sentenced three lawyers to between five and eight years in prison for criticizing the justice system on the social networking website Twitter by accusing authorities of carrying out arbitrary detentions. The Saudi Press Agency  reported that the lawyers were each convicted of different crimes, including using the social media outlet to propagate against the Saudi judiciary, criticize Islamic Sharia law and interfere in the independence of the judiciary. The lawyers are also banned from using social media and traveling. The court also warned other social media users that they could face similar punishment for similar offenses and that they were being monitored.