Libyan officials recently restated their determination to try Seif al-Islam, the son and former heir-apparent to Muammar Qaddafi, at home, rather than allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to try him abroad.  Despite having no effective police force, court system, or detention facilities, the Libyan interim government has protested the involvement of the ICC, for fear that Seif al-Islam will be tried in The Hague or elsewhere.

On March 12, 2012, the Sudanese Defense Minister, Abdel-Rahim Mohammed Hussein attended a regional conference in Tripoli, Libya, despite the recent arrest warrant issued to him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The judges of the ICC issued the warrant after deciding there was ample evidence to find him responsible for 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes in Darfur, Sudan between 2003-2004. United States officials criticized the Libyan government for negotiating with Hussein given his status in the ICC.

In the first ruling of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its 10 year history, the court has convicted Thomas Lubanga, a rebel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, of recruiting children as soldiers.  Tens of thousands of people have died in the Congo in recent years, and the ICC ruling goes a long way in establishing the use of children in war as a war crime.  The ruling also solidifies the court's status as an arbiter of international law.

On March 15, 2012, Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Holder said that he was proud that in 2012 the U.S. charged nearly 120 defendants – a record number – in human trafficking cases. Additionally over the last three years, the U.S. has  achieved significant increases in human trafficking prosecutions – including a rise of more than 30 percent in the number of forced labor and adult sex trafficking prosecutions.

On March 14, 2012, BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., a provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services based in Tulsa, Okla., agreed to pay an $11.8 million criminal penalty to settle charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for bribing government officials in Latin America to secure contracts to perform aircraft MRO services for government agencies, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Russian opposition leaders endorsed President Obama’s request to repeal a Cold War-era trade sanction on March 12, 2012. This sanction, known as the Jackson-Vanik trade amendment, was established in 1974 and was intended to make it easier for Jews to emigrate to other countries after the Soviet Union forbid Jewish emigration. If the sanction is not repealed by the time Russia joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a few months, the United States will violate the organization’s rules and regulations. This violation would result in the levying of heavy tariffs on United States businesses, leading to the loss of millions of dollars in revenue.

A Pakistani villager, Noor Khan, working with the charity Reprieve and law firm Leigh Day and Co., is suing the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, over a U.S. drone strike that killed the villager's father.  Mr. Khan is alleging that the Foreign Secretary provided the necessary intelligence to the United States, which proceeded to launch a drone strike on the village, allegedly killing 40 people in March 2011.  U.S. drones have targeted Pakistan numerous times in the past several years, and Mr.

On March 9, 2012, the United States government agreed to significantly accelerate the transfer of detained insurgents to Afghan government control while ratainining a veto over the ones that can be released.  The memorandum of understanding gives Afghanistan immediate control of detainees officially.  However, it provides for a six-month period of transition to full Afghan control of the detainees.