Tamil families of the disappeared protested at the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) hearing in Jaffna this morning.
Boycotting the hearing, families said they have no faith in the commission, which they believe will be like the several commissions before it in which they have also testified.
A significant presence of intelligence officers were noted at the protest and meeting, who were seen taking photographs and noting down information about the protesters.
Tamil News
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Karaichchi Prathesa Sabai in Kilinochchi today passed a resolution demanding that military run barbers are banned.
The resolution calls for the military to be prohibited from running civilian livelihood activities without the Prathesa Sabai's approval.
Members of the Prathesa Sabai experessed concerns over the military's continuing involvement in civilian affairs and that they military appeared to be targetting young Tamil boys as customers by offering discounted, fashionable...
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Four Indian fishermen have been arrested on Monday by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly smuggling cannabis.
The navy stopped the boat in which they were travelling, close to Neduntivu.
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The Russian Embassy has reportedly contacted Sri Lanka’s Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera to seek an explanation over claims that Moscow had funded a propaganda unit for Joint Opposition MP Namal Rajapaksa.
According to a report in The Island, a spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Colombo told the paper that it “had noted Minister...
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Two former Sri Lankan police officers have been granted bail by a court in Mount Lavinia today, after they had been detained over the killing of Sinhala journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court’s Chief Magistrate Mohammed Mihal released the two suspects on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 for each with 2 personal bonds of the closest relatives for Rs. 1 million each, reports ...
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The Sri Lankan armed forces in Jaffna marked 22 years since the anniversary of its headquarters in the region, with a series of events including Buddhist ceremonies last month.
The Security Force Headquarters in Jaffna arranged a Chanting Pirith and a Bodhi Pooja, reported an official...
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The Sri Lankan Prime Minister is to present a bill to establish an Office for Reparations in Parliament on Tuesday, despite concerns raised by civil society.
While the international community has urged for speedier progress in establishing a reparations mechanism, civil society members have pointed out that the government is trying to push through a bill in which the Office would have no direct policy-making power and would not be politically independent.
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Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said police were investigating almost 1.4 billion rupees paid by China Harbour Engineering Company to the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa prior to the last election.
Eighty-two cheques were drawn out in the names of members of the Presidential Secretariat in the run up to Rajapaksa's election defeat, Mr Wickremesinghe told fellow UNP members.
“Cheques issued by China Harbour Engineering Company are also included in this,” he...
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Sri Lanka's former external affairs minister, G L Peiris, who is currently the chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said he would be writing to the newly appointment UK foreign secretary to urge him to withdraw the co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution.
“It has now come to light that the basis for this resolution is entirely flawed and based on facts which are untrue,” Mr Peiris told the Daily Mirror.
“It is way off the mark,” he added.
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The Sri Lankan military is accused of illegally raising a wild leopard, which went on to injure several Tamil villagers in Kilinochchi last month, according to a report in the Sunday Observer.
The leopard, which injured at least seven people near a local school, was eventually killed by villagers, after Wildlife Department officers arrived and then abandoned the area after the animal had begun injuring more people. Sri Lankan police were at the scene throughout the episode.
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The Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army addressed a United Nations conference on counter-terrorism last month, telling delegates the “Sri Lanka continues to be vigilant” against the “changing face of terrorism”.
Speaking at the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter Terrorism Agencies of Member States at the UN headquarters in New York, Major General W.B.D.P. Fernando said,
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A military delegation from Nigeria was taken on a tour of Jaffna earlier this year, where they held discussion with Sri Lankan security forces stationed in the peninsula.
During their visit, the deleagation met with female soldiers serving the 7 Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (...
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The heads of embassies of several Western states have written to Sri Lanka’s president expressing their opposition to the reported resumption of capital punishment on the island.
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Residents of Chavakachcheri confronted Sri Lankan soldiers attempting to dig up grass and soil for their camp from the banks of a lagoon, in an area designated as a public leisure space.
The incident took place yesterday in Kovitkudiyiruppu, with angered locals demanding soldiers stop digging up the grasses and soil in an area designated as a public leisure and tourism spot by the Chavakachcheri Urban Council.
The village officer (Grama sevakar) was called to the incident and...
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Sri Lanka’s United National Party has instructed the armed forces to take immediate action when information about LTTE commemorations is received, according to UNP Minister Navin Dissanayake. The Minister also claimed that the commemorations were being held as an organised campaign to attract Tamil diaspora money.
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A Tamil asylum-seeker in Australia faces permanent separation from his wife and baby daughter after receiving a deportation notice on Friday, the Tamil Refugee Council said, adding that he could be deported as soon as Monday.
30-year-old Thileepan had fled Sri Lanka after being tortured and interrogated by Sri Lankan security forces, arriving in Australia in June 2012.
...
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The New Star Sports Club (NSSC Montreal) hosted their 4th Annual Mega Blast and Sports Festival on Saturday July 7th, 2018 at Parc Saint Maxime in Laval, Canada.
In collaboration with Tamil One TV, the Trinco Association of Montreal and NSSC Montreal held a day full of various activities...
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There were scenes of further demonstrations today outside the Office on Missing Persons hearing as families of the disappeared demanded an international investigation into the whereabouts of their missing loved ones.
The OMP hearing which...
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An assistant to one of the petitioners in a Habeas Corpus (disappearances) court case was brutally attacked with an iron rod in Vaddukoddai, Jaffna yesterday.
The 36 year old victim had been riding her push bike with her young son, when an unidentified man in his mid-30s came up from behind and hit her on the shoulders with an iron rod, before pushing her son out of the way and hitting her directly on the head.
She remains in hospital with a major concussion and laceration,...
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The chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran told officials in the Northern Province not to provide information to the Sri Lankan army without seeking his approval.
His comments come amid reports that the Terrorism Investigation Department had asked health officials within the NPC for information regarding babies born in Kilinochchi during a week in May.
“If the army requested for any information, you tell them that I had requested you not to give them any...
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Sri Lanka's army commander, Mahesh Senanayake reiterated that the army would not close down any camps in the North, in an attempt to reassure the Sinhala population of 'national security'.
"The Army urges the public not to be misled by those unfounded and false media reports, but continue to repose the full confidence in the Army, considering its past services as well as the roles and tasks, now being performed across the country,” he said in the media statement.
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The Terrorism Investigation Department is collecting information about babies born in Kilinochchi from May 25 - 30 in order to arrest a man over the alleged discovery of a LTTE flag and ammunition in Oddisudan last month, Sri Lankan police sources told local reporters.
The discovery was reportedly made when police stopped an auto taxi. One person was arrested at the scene whilst another escaped.
TID officers believe the man they are searching for is from Kilinochchi and his...
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The Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission has written to the President of Sri Lanka, urging him to reconsider the plans to bring in the death penalty for drug trafficking convicts.
The Commission’s chairperson Deepika Udagama said that the death penalty os a serious human rights violation and that implementing it would not address the issue of drug trafficking.
The letter also stated that implementing the death penalty would worsen the already diminished reputation of the country’...
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The TNA leader has urged the Prime Minister of Thailand to encourage Thai companies to invest in the North-East.
At a meeting between TNA leader R. Sampanthan and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha in Colombo said that Thai investment could help increase employment opportunities and uplift the economy of the North-East.
According to a TNA press release, the Thai Prime Minister responded favourably to the suggestion and requested the TNA leader to help facilitating future...
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Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) has sought information regarding all babies born from May 25th to 30th in Kilinochchi district from the Northern Provincial Council health department.
The reason for the enquiries remains unknown however local residents have expressed concern and fear over the reports.
"Why does the TID want to know about babies," one mother who had recently given birth said, speaking anonymously.
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The habeas corpus case on two disappeared activists was adjourned by Jaffna Magistrates Court on Friday until October, after the state's senior legal representative failed to appear.
The two activists, Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan, who disappeared in 2011, were organising protests on behalf of families who have had relatives gone missing.
They were last seen in Avaragal near Jaffna as they were making their way to a protest in December 2011.
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The United National Party (UNP) is to recommence discussions on the proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution on Monday which looks to abolish the executive presidency.
Sri Lanka's Speaker informed parliament last year that the proposed 20th Amendment would need a two third majority in parliament before being put before the public via a referendum in order to be implemented following a Supreme Court ruling.
Discussions on the amendment have been stalled for weeks follow...
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Speaking to Colombo papers following what he described as a 'fact finding mission' in Jaffna, Sri Lanka's law and order minister, Ranjith Bandara, said he had concluded that it was Tamil films that was fuelling the gang violence in Jaffna.
"These Tamil youths were emulating the violent scenes to instill fear before carrying out their criminal activities such as robberies," he was quoted by the...
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Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka admitted that Sri Lankan policemen and Special Task Force troops have carried out torture and demanded ransoms, as he criticised plans to involve the military in drug enforcement activities.
"They throw chili powder on the face of suspects, cover their heads with plastic bags and assault them”, said the former head of the Sri Lankan army, who is a minister in the current government. “This is unhuman. These are the tactics used by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa when...
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Sri Lanka's former cricket captain T.M. Dilshan on Friday praised the president, Maithripala Sirisena for deciding to implement the death penalty for drug traffickers.
"There is no purpose in safeguarding human rights if we cannot save the country. Cases of drugs use and child abuse has increased at an alarming rate today. So is is essential to carry out the death sentence,” Mr Dilshan was quoted by the...
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Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake has ordered Sri Lanka’s state translation department to translate into Sinhala and English a speech by former UNP minister Vijayakala Maheswaran, where she stated that the LTTE was needed in the North-East to prevent the rising violence and anti-social behaviour that is taking place in the region.
The Chief Magistrate’s Court also issued an order demanding full video footage from the event earlier this month, reports The Island.
The...
World News
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A senior US commander has confirmed that the United States is prepared to have direct talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, in an effort to reach a peace deal in the country.
General John Nicholson, who leads the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said that,
"Our secretary of state, Mr [Mike] Pompeo, has said that we, the United States, are ready to talk to the Taliban and discuss the role of international forces".
"We hope that they realise this and that...
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In Southern Iraq protests have spread over issues of corruption and a failure to provide basic services for people, including electricity and water shortages.
The protests initially erupted in Basra on July 8th, to which security forces cracked down on protestors and killed one person. Following this protests have continued to spread to the eastern province of Diyala and southern city of Nasiriyah. During the protests, demonstrators marched outside the headquarters of political...
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The government of Iraq has approved a proposal by Yezidi activists to convert a village school in to a museum commemorating the genocide of Yezidis by ISIS.
In 2014 ISIS launched an attack on Shingal, Kurdistan and its surrounding areas, kidnapping more than 6500 Yezidis.
1202 residents of Kocho, a village near Shingal, were gathered in the village school. 395 were shot and buried in 22 mass graves. 600 residents of the village remain missing. Many of the women are believed to...
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The new Spanish government is to set up a truth commission to investigate crimes against humanity committed under the former dictator, Francisco Franco.
The government has pledged to search for those disappeared during his rule, including carrying out public exhumations every year and recording the number of people found.
The commission is part of a new historical memory law, which also seeks to prohibit support for Franco and annul the convictions of those accused of...
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The US State of Connecticut will officially mark ‘Sikh Genocide Day’ on November 30 to commemorate the anti-Sikh pogrom in 1984 which saw around 3000 Sikhs in Delhi killed by Hindu mobs, aided by Indian law enforcement and government officials.
The bill declaring Sikh genocide day was signed in to law by the Governor of Connecticut.
Last year the government of the Canadian province of Ontario also recognised the pogrom as genocide.
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As many as 32 people have been arrested in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, after the murder a Muslim man on Friday – reportedly sparked by rumors circulating on WhatsApp.
Mohammad Azam, a 27 year old Google employee, was lynched by villagers, who accused him of abducting children. This follows a worrying trend in India in which more than 20 people, mostly non-local, have been killed due to accusations of child abduction in the last two months.
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Iceland has been elected to replace the USA on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The UN General Assembly elected Iceland as the replacement effective immediately until the end of next year.
The US announced its decision to withdraw from the UNHRC last month, citing anti-Israel bias and hypocrisy.
The US was a key partner in passing the Resolution 30/1 on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, which Sri Lanka co-sponsored.
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In Belfast, the homes of two prominent Sinn Féin members, former leader Gerry Adams, and Bobby Storey, were attacked with explosive devices last night.
Both men reported that no-one was hurt in the attacks, although Northern Ireland police said they discovered the remnants of large industrial firework-type devices, capable of causing serious injury, at both scenes.
Mr Adams was the leader of Sinn Féin from 1983 until earlier this year, and was a key figure in the resistance...
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On Friday the UN Security Council approved an arms embargo on South Sudan which will last until May 2019.
The decision was narrowly passed retaining the minimum nine ‘yes’ votes but having six ‘abstentions’ from China, Russia, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan and Bolivia. The resolution also supports a travel ban and asset freeze of Malek Reuben Riak and Paul Malong Awan, South Sudanese military officials, who have been accused of threatening peace within the region.
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India's defence minister, Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) report on Kashmir as "baseless", ANI reported.
"The report was prepared while sitting somewhere else. The assessment made by UNHRC has no basis. They are not aware of the ground realities in Kashmir," Ms Sitharaman said.
"The army is able to eliminate terrorists on the borders itself," she added.
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The United Kingdom will remain party to the European Convention on Human Rights after leaving the European Union, according to the Brexit white paper most recently published by the government.
Despite British Prime Minister, Theresa May, having previously backed leaving the ECHR, the white paper said, “the UK is committed to membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)” and that “the UK will remain a party to the ECHR after it has left the EU.”
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Bosnian Muslims marked 23 years since the Srebrenica genocide in a commemoration that saw the remains of 35 victims buried at the genocide’s memorial centre.
According to The Hague Tribunal and Bosnian state court, over 7000 Bosnian Muslims, mostly men and boys, were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995.
The forces then carried out operations to conceal the crimes by using secondary and tertiary mass graves.
A total of 6575 genocide victims have been reburied at...
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Scotland's first minister and SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon met with the Catalan president, Quim Torra on Wednesday during the newly elected leader's visit to Edinburgh this week.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting the two leaders said "the way forward...
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Cameroon’s government stated that it will open an investigation into a video that allegedly shows soldiers executing two women and their children, accusing them of being members of Boko Haram.
The mobile phone footage shows men in uniform similar to that of the Cameroonian military leading two women and their young children up a small hill, before they are blindfolded and murdered. The soldiers are heard telling them “You are going to die you BH,” referring to the Boko Haram Islamist...
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Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a declaration on Monday ending the war that existed between the two countries since the border conflict in 1998-2000.
Despite a previous peace deal in 2000 the two countries remained in a state of no war no peace as the deal failed to be implemented.
The declaration was signed at a meeting between Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's president Isaias Afewerki in Eritrea's capital, Asmara, when the two countries' leaders met for the...
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Life sentences handed to two former Rwandan mayors for their part in the Rwandan genocide were upheld by a French court on Friday.
Octavien Ngenzi and Tito Barahira had appealed after they were found guilty of crimes of against humanity, genocide and summary executions in 2016.
"This decision is just and sends a message: no to impunity for all those who took part in the genocide and who thought they could find refuge in France," said Alain Gauthier, head of a group which has...
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The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein this week called on member states of the Human Rights Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court rejecting the country's assertion that it was a "body committed to the defence of human rights."
““In the four years that I have been High Commissioner I have heard many preposterous claims,” he said. “This claim, that I have just stated now, almost creates a new category of absurdity. Have some shame sir....
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On Wednesday the Egyptian higher court, overturned a criminal court order that put 1,538 defendants on the country’s terror list, including the former president Mohamed Morsi.
The criminal court order which that placed these subjects on the list was passed in 2015 under an anti-terrorism law after General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi overthrew Morsi in the coup of July 2013. Joining Mr Morsi on this list was retired footballer Mohamed Abou Trika, now a sports TV analyst in Qatar, who fled...
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An investigation by a team of UN human rights experts has concluded that mass rape, dismembering of civilians and cannablism took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo during conflict that began in 2016 in the Kasai region.
Stating that both government troops and rebel fighters were suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, the team presented its findings to the UN Human Rights Council last week.
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Modi calls for ‘strong and stable relations’ between India and China 'for global peace and progress'
Photograph: Twitter @PMOIndia
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the importance of “strong and stable” relations between India and China, stating it was “an important factor for global peace and progress”.
Speaking before senior military and defence officials from...
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The United States announced that it has changed the name of its largest military command last week, in what officials say is a symbolic move that recognises the importance of India in the region.
"In recognition of the increasing connectivity of the Indian and Pacific Oceans today we rename the US Pacific Command to the US Indo-Pacific Command," said US Defense Secretary Mattis at a ceremony last week.
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Almost seven months of direct rule from Madrid ended this weekend after a new Catalan cabinet was sworn in.
Catalan's new leader and close ally of the previous leader, Quim Torra on Saturday sought to rebuild ties with Madrid whilst reaffirming his commitment to Catalonia's independence.Catalan's autonomy was suspended by Madrid after the region declared independence following a referendum last year.
Mr Torra said he wanted to restart talks with Madrid...
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On Wednesday a tax was passed by the Ugandan government that would charge users 200 shillings ($0.0531) per day for use of social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.
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Hungarian parliament considered legislation that would criminalise providing aid to illegal migrants on Tuesday, as well as and may make such actions punishable with a prison sentence.
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Israel’s parliament last week considered a bill entitled "Prohibition against photographing and documenting IDF Soldiers” which sought to criminalise photographing Israel Defense Force soldiers on duty.
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On Friday a military court in Cameroon found seven activists guilty of “acts of terrorism, hospitality against the homeland, secession, revolution and insurrection” and could be jailed for 15 years. This follows the governments attempt to repress “a budding Anglophone secessionist movement” which is lead primarily by the North West and South West regions, reports Reuters.
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Amnesty International has stated that the Rohingya armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is responsible for at least one, and possible a second, massacre of up to 99 Hindus – an accusation that the militants vehemently deny.
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Amnesty International issued a report on Thursday, detailing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) as they battle against Boko Haram.
In their report, entitled “They betrayed us”, they detail the military’s illegal detention of civilians from recaptured areas in the north-east; indiscriminate killings as they burnt down homes; sexual violence and forced prostitution; and insufficient food, water...
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On Tuesday Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki met with Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, at The Hague and called for a formal referral stating Israel had violated international law.
The Palestinian Authority stated it believes the ICC “is the competent authority to investigate the ongoing Israeli crimes associated with the illegal colonial settlement regime and to prosecute those criminals who commit such crimes”.
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Portuguese parliament approved a motion in support of Sahrawi independence and self-determination last week, reports the Sahara Press Service.
During a plenary session on 11 May Portuguese Members of parliament supported a motion calling on the government to promote actions to achieve the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, as part of finding a lasting solution to the conflict that ended Morocco’s...