(Moscow) – The Boston Marathon bombings have pushed the turbulent history of Chechnya back to the top of the news agenda. Human Rights Watch has a long history of research in the region, generating a substantive body of research on Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.

Reports:

Chechnya:

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Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul was tried by the military commissions and sentenced to life in prison on November 3, 2008, after a military jury found him guilty of 35 counts of conspiracy, solicitation to commit murder, and providing material support for terrorism. In January of 2013, however, the federal appeals court in Washington D.C.

In August 2008, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who worked as a driver for Osama bin Laden, became the first Guantanamo detainee to go to trial before the military commissions.

Thank you to everyone who tweeted the launch of the World Report 2013. The 665-page report, the 23rd annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major issues in more than 90 countries.

As of December 14, 2012, 121 countries have ratified the Rome Statute.

In alphabetical order, they are:

Al Rabia, 50, was charged in October 2008 with conspiracy to commit terrorism and attack civilians and providing material support for terrorism. The government alleged that he traveled to Afghanistan to meet with Osama Bin Laden and that he raised money for al Qaeda, commanded a supply depot at Tora Bora, and delivered supplies to al Qaeda fighters.

Binyam Ahmed Mohamed, an Ethiopian, trained as an electrical engineer in the United Kingdom, where he had been granted refugee status.
 

Mohammed Jawad, a 23-year-old Afghan, was taken into US custody when he was somewhere between the ages of 12 to 17 (he does not know his birthday and his relatives have given conflicting accounts). He was charged with attempted murder in violation of the laws of war and intentionally causing serious bodily injury.