The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and rebels have agreed to hold talks following recent violence, and gains made by the Seleka rebels with some suggesting that CAR's capital Bangui could be in rebel hands within a 'few days'. Meanwhile, more troops from the Central African Multinational force (Fomac) are to be deployed to CAR. Talks are to be held in Libraville, in Gabon, and are said to be free of any pre-conditions.
The Burmese government has announced it will allow privately owned newspapers for the first time in 50 years. The information ministry said it will take applications by Burmese citizens from February 2013 and would permit the publication in any language from April. Burma abolished government censorship earlier this year, in a continuation of moves to liberalise the country. Only two years ago Burmese journalists were subjected to severe censorship and the government regularly shut down papers that fell foul of its strict rules.
British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt, has criticised Israel’s announcement of new settlements, stating that they are in violation of the Geneva Conventions. In a statement released earlier this week Burt said, "Last week Foreign Secretary William Hague made clear our condemnation and deep disappointment at the approval of the East Jerusalem Ramat Shlomo plan. We also condemn the Jerusalem District Planning Board’s approvals for over 3150 units in Givaat Hamatos and 1242 units in Mordot Gilo South. These are further profoundly provocative actions that run contrary to the Fourth...
Protesters in Delhi on Thursday (The Hindu) A poll by TrustLaw, a Thomson Reuters news service, has found that India is the worst of the Group of 20 countries to be a woman in. Canada was found to be the best place by the global survey of experts, with Germany, Britain, Australia and France completing the top 5. The brutal rape and subsequent death of a woman in India’s capital New Delhi, and apparent lack of political will to adress the issue, has caused outrage across the country and abroad, shining a spot-light on how women are treated in the world’s largest democracy. Massive protests in...
The Russian government is urging Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to engage with the opposition. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia still refuses to support calls for Assad to step down but pressed Assad to consider all options to end the conflict. "We actively encouraged... the Syrian leadership to maximally put into action its declared readiness for dialogue with the opposition," Lavrov said to reporters on Thursday, after a meeting with Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Muqdad. "I hope that the inside Syria will prompt reasonable members of the opposition to search for...
Russia's invitation for peace talks has been rejected by Syria's opposition leader, dampening international hopes for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Talking on Al Jazeera TV, Moaz Alkhatib said: "We have clearly said we will not go to Moscow. We could meet in an Arab country if there was a clear agenda," "Now we also want an apology from (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov because all this time he said that the people will decide their destiny, without foreign intervention. Russia is intervening and meanwhile all these massacres of the Syrian people have happened, treated as if...
Swiss campaign groups have welcomed efforts by the government in attempting to track down and prosecute war criminals, with the creation of a dedicated task force earlier this year. The director of Geneva-based ‘Track Impunity Always’ (Trial) Philip Grant hailed the move, saying , “Switzerland is finally taking its international obligations more seriously,” In particular the cases of Khaled Nezzar, the former Algerian defence minister and ex-Guatamalan police chief Erwin Sperisen were highlighted by Grant. He went on to say, “Once it is accepted that there is a shared responsibility by states...
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) warned the M23 armed movement on Friday, that anyone attacking UN helicopters would face prosecution as a war criminal. The warning from the UN Stabilising Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) comes after a UN press release stated that two utility helicopters had faced hostile fire from the M23 on boxing day. MONUSCO reiterated that any attack against peacekeepers would amount to war crimes. The peacekeeping mission vowed that “those responsible for such acts will be prosecuted and brought to justice”
The Rwandan Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga has threatened that Rwanda may have to take France to court over their failure to arrest known fugitives, accused of crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. The National Public Prosecution Authority says that at least 21 indicted Genocide suspects are currently in France. “After almost two decades of giving them benefit of the doubt, it is now clear to us that French authorities are unwilling to deliver justice in Genocide cases,” said Ngoga in an interview to Rwandan newspaper New Times . “We have to rethink the strategy, we have to look...
The Special Chamber of the High Court of Rwanda has rejected the demands of a deported genocide suspect from Canada, asking to court to nullify his case. Leon Mugesera, who was removed from Canada earlier this year after losing a deportation battle that lasted nearly 20 years, questioned the mandate of the court, claiming they had no jurisdiction to try his alleged crimes, which occurred in 1992. The Special Chamber of the High Court though, which tries cases transferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, however dismissed his demands, with Judge Athanase Bakuzakundi stating...