Colombia apologises to indigenous people

The Colombian government has apologised to the country’s indigenous communities for the devastation caused by the Amazon rubber boom around a hundred years ago. Civil groups say up to 100,000 people were killed when a Peruvian company, backed by the Colombian government, caused devastation while harvesting rubber from 1912 to 1929. The crimes committed include slavery, torture, extra judicial killings and torture. President Juan Manuel Santos asked for forgiveness "for all the dead and their orphans" and said that the government at the time "failed to understand the importance of safeguarding...

MoD to investigate arms company lobbying

The Ministry of Defence has said it will investigate claims by the Sunday Times that arms firms call on retired senior military officers to lobby the government for multi-million pound arms deals. The investigation by the paper saw a fictitious lobbying company contact the “generals for hire”, and secretly filmed them as they boasted about their ability to influence senior figures inside the government, including the prime minister. The Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond denied the claims and said to the BBC that military equipment was "procured in the interests of the armed forces and not in...

Syria uses chemical weapons in air strikes

New evidence has surfaced that indicates that the Syrian air force has used cluster bombs, reported Human Rights Watch. Videos posted online by Syrian activists displayed the remnants of cluster munitions. The Human Rights Watch arms director, Steve Goose, condemned Syria’s actions, proclaiming, “Syria’s disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas.” Imploring the use of chemical weapons to halt, he said “Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and...

Karadzic defence opens as Hadzic trial begins

Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic is due to start his defence at the Hague this week, as the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia is set to try their last suspect, Goran Hadzic. Karadzic's legal adviser Peter Robinson told AFP , “He will expose his personal views on the crimes listed in the indictment,” Robinson went on to add, “what he challenges is the scale of the massacre... He (Karadzic) does not know how many people were killed, but according to him it’s certainly not 7,000,” “No policy was implemented (at Srebrenica), he did not know prisoners would be...

UN panel discussion highlights Cambodian prosecution efforts

An United Nations-backed panel discussion at Rutgers University in the US state of New Jersey, has explored the role of genocide and war crimes prosecution in Cambodia and how accountability has helped ‘reconcile’ the country. Speaking at the event, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Stephen Mathias stated, “It can be argued that the development of individual criminal responsibility, like we saw in the case of Duch [Kaing Guek Eav], for perpetrators of genocide and war crimes and crimes against humanity has been one of the major legal developments of the last 60 years which...

UN resolution paves way for intervention in Mali

A resolution adopted by the UN Security Council paves the way for military intervention in Mali's north, where Islamist rebels have taken control of the area after overthrowing the president in March. The resolution urges "detailed and actionable recommendations" to be drawn up by African organisations to be presented to the Security Council within 45 days, and calls on UN member states to provide "co-ordinated assistance, expertise, training and capacity-building support" to Mali's armed forces. Any military intervention on the ground would require a second resolution by the 15-member...

Turkish flights banned from flying over Syria

Syria announced on Saturday that it will no longer allow Turkish civilian planes to fly over its territory, just days after Turkey intercepted a Syrian flight allegedly carrying Russian munitions to the Syrian army. According to Syria’s foreign ministry, the ban is a response to a similar move from Ankara, although Turkey has not announced such a ban. A series of cross-border incidents, including several days of cross-border fire and shelling have caused tensions to rise rapidly between the two countries. The opposition-backing Turkish government has called for Syrian President Bashar al-...

Agreement reached on Scottish independence referendum

The Scottish government has struck a deal with Westminster that will allow an independence referendum to take place in the near future. The “Section 30” order, due to be formally announced on Monday, will transfer power from Westminster to Holyrood, Scotland, and will include an agreement for a single ‘yes or ‘no’ question on independence to take place before 2014. Deputy Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, applauded the constructive approach that took place during the negotiations and went on to say, “I am now immensely looking forward to making the case for Scotland to have full...

British envoy to meet BJP's Modi after 10 years

For the first time in ten years, a British envoy will meet with the BJP's Narendra Modi, under the instructions of the British foreign minister for India, Hugo Swire. In a statement, Swire said : "this will allow us to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest and to explore opportunities for closer cooperation," Modi, currently the chief minister for the state of Gujurat, is seen as the strongest opposition candidate for the general elections in two years time. The meeting would be the first such diplomatic engagement by the West, after religious riots rocked the state ten years ago...

Royal Marines arrested on Afghanistan murder charge

Seven Royal Marines have been arrested after information emerged that an insurgent was murdered. A fellow soldier claimed that the insurgent was killed by British troops in a way that broke the army’s strict rules of engagement. The seven marines were arrested by the Royal Military Police on Thursday and the Ministry of Defence will lead an inquiry into the killing, which is said to have happened last year. "The Royal Military police have today arrested seven Royal Marines on suspicion of murder.” said an MoD spokesperson. “The arrests relate to an incident in Afghanistan in 2011. The...

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