A French court in Douai has ordered the release of Laurent Serubuga, a former colonel in the Rwandan army and an ethnic Hutu, who is suspected of playing a role in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The court ruled that as the atrocities were committed at a time when the genocide and crimes were committed, they were not punishable by law, Serubuga should not have been charged.

Rwanda had requested the extradition, which led to his arrest in July this year.

The Dutch government has made a formal apology for the thousands of summary executions it carried out in Indonesia leading up to its independence.

The victims of the killings, committed between 1945 and 1949, were mostly men and the worst atrocities were committed on the island of Sulawesi.

"The Dutch government is aware that it bears a special responsibility in respect of Indonesian widows of victims of summary executions," Dutch ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan said.

The Syrian regime on Tuesday admitted it possessed chemical weapons and said it will work with the UN and Russia to “halt possession” of the weapons.

Russia on Monday proposed a plan for international monitors to examine the chemical weapons stockpile with a view to destroy them.

"We are ready to inform about the location of chemical weapons, halt the production of chemical weapons, and show these objects to representatives of Russia, other states and the United Nations," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.

The Deputy President  of Kenya, William Ruto, pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity at the Hague today.

A report published by Human Rights Watch today, outlined that evidence from the massacre site suggested that Assad’s regime was responsible for the chemical weapons attack.

Basing its conclusions on testimony from witnesses and medical staff as well as analysis of the armaments used, the report concluded,