The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, to address the conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ended without the creation of a concrete plan to establish peace in the area. However, the ICGLR did make some progress on working towards the implementation of a ‘Neutral International Force’. The idea was agreed upon by several regional leaders to combat the rebels in the provinces. The conference decided that regional defence ministers should meet immediately to work towards “operationalisation of the...
The US has decided to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation on Friday, in a move that will be seen as a test to US-Pakistan relations. The decision will mean that the now blacklisted group will now be subject to sanctions, a freezing of assets and will prevent any US individuals or companies from having ties to the group. The move, announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, comes after the US Congress set a deadline for the Obama administration to make a decision on the group in July. She stated that whilst classifying the group as a Foreign Terrorist...
This week saw the second largest City in Burma, Mandalay, experience Buddhist monk-led demonstrations against the Muslim Rohingya, receiving criticism from many observers. Commenting on the situation, Phil Robertson, the Deputy Director for Asia Human Rights Watch said, “ If more people fail to speak up, Burma could be headed towards Buddhist xenophobia similar to the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. And that’s the concern that we see today in Burma that if this continues, if the Burmese monkhood continues to come out and press against the Rohingya in this way, we will be on the road to a kind of Sri Lanka situation with the Rohingya, where you have the Buddhists across Burma raising their hands against Rohingya.
Members of the European Union have warned Iran of fresh sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said sanctions are already impacting Iran, but that it was "necessary to increase the pressure on Iran, to intensify sanctions, to add further to the EU sanctions," he said to reporters after informal talks with other EU foreign ministers. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle expressed frustration over the lack of progress and said Iran has made no “substantial offer" to make clear the intentions of its nuclear programme. Russian Minister...
Russia has rebuffed calls by the US to increase pressure on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down. Secretayr of State Hillary Clinton urged Russia to support the UN in taking action to end the conflict, saying that Congress may abolish trade restrictions still in place since the Cold War. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists that the Kremlin is against sanctions against Syria and Iran , after talks with Clinton on Saturday. "Our American partners have a prevailing tendency to threaten and increase pressure, adopt ever more sanctions against Syria and against Iran,"...
Britain's decision to unfreeze half of its aid to Rwanda after the African state engaged in constructive peace talks faced criticism from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Human Rights Watch. Rwanda recently had all their British aid cut, after a UN report accused them of fuelling the bloodshed in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but the decision to partly restore it was made earlier this week. The UK’s international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, praised the country for constructively working towards resolving the crisis in the Great Lakes region...
Nine presidentially appointed constitutional judges have been forced to resign after Myanmar’s parliament voted for their impeachment. More than two-thirds of Myanmar’s lower house backed the impeachment, after it was approved by the upper house last month and has now been accepted by President Thein Sein. The move was backed by both opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party. The situation is said to highlight the tensions between Burma’s government and parliament, as institutions continue to tussle for...
The Canadian government has decided to close its embassy in Tehran and kick out all remaining Iranian diplomats from Canada. A statement by Foreign Minister John Baird said that Canada had suspended all diplomatic relations with Iran, due to its continued and increasing military support for the Assad regime in Syria, its noncompliance with UN resolutions in relation to its nuclear programme and its incitement to genocide and anti-Semitic rhetoric against Israel. “Canada has closed its embassy in Iran, effective immediately, and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in...
The offer of a ceasefire in Colombia by Farc rebels has been rejected by the Colombian government, as the two sides look to peace talks to be held in Oslo in October. Leaders from the Farc rebels stated that negotiating a ceasefire would be their top priority at the upcoming talks with spokesman Mauricio Jaramillo saying , "We will propose a ceasefire the moment we sit down at the table… We are going to discuss it." However Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos firmly rejected the notion, stating, "There's not going to be any ceasefire. We will not give anything until we get the final...
An Amnesty report released on Wednesday, ‘The Other Side of Paradise’ , has accused the Maldives government of several actions amounting to violations of human rights. It outlined that there would be no meaningful reconciliation unless there was an end to the campaign of violent repression, abuses and impunity. The accusations include many instances of arbitrary arrest and torture by security forces with complete impunity. Security forces are also said to have increased attacks against peaceful demonstrations, which were instigated by the controversial resignation of the first democratically elected President, Mohameed Nasheed, who later claimed he was forced to resign at gunpoint, suggesting a coup by forces aligned with the previous leadership.