The Swiss government has agreed to implement 50 of the 86 recommendations made by other member states at the UN Human Rights Council, during the country's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) this week.

The Swiss government indicated that a response to the remaining 30 recommendations would be provided at the next session of the council, due to take place in March next year. Four recommendations were rejected.

UN human rights experts have said that Turkey is using a vague counterterrorism law to prosecute activists, lawyers and journalists.

The UN Human Rights Committee reviewing Turkey’s human rights record said that some provisions within its Anti-Terrorism Law are incompatible with international law and that there have been severe restraints on the right to due process since the law’s passing in 1991.

An alleged spokesperson for the Nigerian radical Islamist group Boko Haram has said that the group is willing to enter into peace talks, on the premise that they are held in Saudi Arabia and headed by Muhamed Buhari, a Muslim colonel who ruled Nigeria for 20 months after seizing power in 1984.

The spokesperson, Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, claiming to be representing Boko Haram’s leader said:

Gujurat's chief minister Narendra Modi, who was previously shunned by the West following the 2002 Godhra riots, is now free to apply for a US visa.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said that Modi the US has "very good" relations with the state of Gujurat, and that it was a "very, very important" market for American companies.

Blake went on to say,

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has warned the Syrian opposition of attempts by radical groups to “hijack” the Syrian revolution.

The opposition Syrian National Council is based in Turkey and has no control over the escalating violence.

Clinton criticised the make-up of the SNC, saying that the leadership should be more representative of those resisting on the ground.

Dozens of British protesters condemned alleged torture in Indonesia as the Indonesian President, Susilo Banbang Youdhoyono, received a royal welcome upon his first visit to Britain in over 30 years. The president will address parliament and open a new ‘Indonesia-UK Business forum’ during his 3 day visit.

Activists accused Britain of prioritising their commercial interests ahead of human rights issues that were affecting the Indonesian minorities. The protests were staged by several activists from Amnesty International and other non-governmental Indonesian organisations.

The former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, Momčilo Perišić, is appealing against a 27-year prison sentence, after being found guilty of war crimes in September last year.

Perišić’s appeal is due to start on Wednesday, with the former General arguing that he was not aware of or responsible for any atrocities.

In his trial last year, Bakone Justice Moloto, the president judge ruled that,

The Bahraini government has banned all protests and public gatherings as violence between anti-government protesters and police intensifies.

The interior minister, Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifah, said protests would only be permitted once secuirty and stability were returned, and "repeated abuse" of the rights of freedom of speech and expression (ie. the protests), could not be tolerated.

Claiming that the protests were "devoid of respect and intended to humiliate", Al Khalifah said the protests "jeopardised civil peace and disturbed security and general order".

The Vietnamese government has jailed two song writers for criticising government policy in their songs.

Tran Vu Anh Binh and Vo Minh Tri were jailed for six and four years respectively by a court in Ho Chi Minh City.

Their songs criticised China over the South China Sea dispute and Vietnam’s handling of the crisis.

Amnesty International called for the release of the musicians in a statement released on Monday.

Tensions between the Greek media and government escalated following the interruption of state television , ERT, broadcasts by a journalists’ union announcement.

A morning chat show was interrupted by an announcement condemning the recent suspension of two presenters who were seen as critical of the government.

The union called for the reinstatement of the presenters, warning,