WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Photograph: Screenshot/ BLA video A fresh wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances has been documented across Balochistan this month, as Baloch rights groups recorded the recovery of several bodies of men who had earlier been forcibly taken, and appealed once more to international institutions that have largely ignored the province. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC)…

Egyptian army shoots at protestors

Thousands of supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood defied a government imposed curfew in a March through Cairo today.

‘Turkey will pay a heavy price’ for supporting opposition warns Assad

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad warned Turkey that they will ‘pay a heavy price’ for supporting ‘terrorism’, following Turkey’s continued support for Syria’s armed opposition.

Speaking in an interview on Turkish TV, Assad said,

"It is not possible to put terrorism in your pocket and use it as a card because it is like a scorpion which won't hesitate to sting you at the first opportunity,"

The Gambia leaves “neo-colonial” Commonwealth

The Gambia has announced it has decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth in a statement on state television.

It said it had "decided that The Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism".

The British Foreign Office has said it “very much regrets” the African state’s decision to withdraw.

HRW calls for Security Council action on Congo

In a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council  today, Human Rights Watch urged members to use their visit to the Great Lakes region of Central Africa to help end human rights abuses and impunity for the worst crimes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ecuador arrests officers for crimes against humanity

An Ecuadorian judge has ordered the arrest of 3 senior retired police and army officers, in the country’s first ever trial for crimes against humanity.

A further 7 officers have been placed under house arrest, as the country investigates allegations of torture, kidnapping and sexual violence, that occurred in 1985, against three members of a banned leftist opposition group.

The crimes were alleged to have occurred during late President Leon Febres Cordero’s rule from 1984 to 1988.

ICRC calls on video game producers to uphold war conventions

The International Committee of the Red Cross, today called for video games to punish crimes committed in battle by applying real-life international war conventions to the gameplay.

In a statement released today, the Red Cross said,

Kenyan journalist sought by ICC

An arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court for a Kenyan journalist who is suspected to have attempted to influence witnesses.

Walter Barasa is alleged to have offered bribes to prosecution witnesses at the trial of Deputy President William Ruto.

"I have not gotten in touch with any witnesses or anybody having any intention of asking them or bribing them to pull out of the case," Barasa said according to Reuters reports.

This is the first time the ICC has issued a warrant for such an offence.

ICC issues warrant for former Ivorian minister

A former minister in Côte d’Ivoire has been issues with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for allaeged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Charles Ble Goude is suspected of committing rape, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts during post-election violence that gripped the country between December 2010 and April 2011.

The warrant was issued in December 2011, but has only now been made public.

UN Security Council calls for humanitarian aid access in Syria

The president of the United Nations Security Council, Gary Quinlan, outlined that members were pressing for a follow up on last weeks chemical weapons resolution that demands immediate access to Syria for humanitarian aid.

The president said that the draft statement calls for the Syrian government to provide access to deliver aid in “the most effective ways, including across conflict lines and, where appropriate, across borders from neighbouring countries,” whilst condemning the widespread violations of human rights by both sides.

Rwanda requests Netherlands to extradite genocide suspect

The Rwandan government has formally requested the extradition of a  suspected Rwandan Hutu militia leader from the Netherlands, over his alleged role in the country’s 1994 genocide.

A Dutch court will now consider the decision to extradite the suspect, identified only as "Jean-Claude I.", who was arrested in July of this year.

Dutch prosecutors stated,

"I. is being suspected of being an armed leader of the Interahamwe who participated in attacks on Tutsis."