Equatorial Guinea has rebuffed South African government requests to release from prison two oil engineers: Frik Potgieter, a South African, and Peter Huxham, a dual South African-British national.  The men are being held on charges of trafficking cocaine.  

         On Monday, July 29, Israeli military police detained nine military reservists at a military base currently holding thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza. Although officials have not released details about the alleged crimes, the military reservists are undergoing a formal investigation for the suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee. More specifically, they are being questioned for performing acts of sodomy on the detainee who was hospitalized due to the severity of his physical injuries.

         On Friday, July 19, 2024, the Nigerian government fined Meta Platforms $220 million after an internal investigation revealed the technology conglomerate had repeatedly violated Nigeria’s data protection and consumer rights laws on WhatsApp and Facebook. In a statement issued by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), officials claimed Meta had violated its data laws in five ways: “Denying Nigerian consumers the right to self-determination, unauthorized transfer and sharing of personal data (including cross-border storage), discriminatory practices and disparate treatment of Nigerian consumers, abuse of dominant market positions, and the tying and bundling of service.”

         On July 29, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld the validity of various provisions of the EU directive requiring all intermediaries and, in their absence, the taxpayer involved in potentially aggressive cross-border tax arrangements to report them to the competent authorities.  In 2020, some organizations representing lawyers and tax consultants brought proceedings in the Belgian Constitutional Court to annul the Belgian law transposing the directive.  

          Shortly before the Summer recess, some organizations and organs worked together to address a serious problem: human trafficking. The actors included: the European Union, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the US Department of State.

        On July 24, 2024, a grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, returned an indictment charging North Korean national, Rim Jong Hyok, for his participation in a conspiracy to hack and extort U.S. hospitals and other healthcare providers, launder the ransom proceeds, and employ the proceeds to fund additional computer intrusions into defense, technology, and government entities worldwide.  

          On July 30, 2024, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) announced that it had seized a record-breaking amount of drugs in 31 countries during Operation Lionfish Hurricane. Conducted in April and May 2024, the operation led to 206 arrests in connection with European, African, and South American drug trafficking networks. 

         In July, the International Monetary Fund issued reports on anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) in Panama and a report on the Financial Sector Assessment Program.  In particular, the latter focuses on financial safety net, resolution, and crisis management.