• Former Somali PM pays damages for torture

    Sep 01
    A court in the US has ordered the ex-Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar to pay $21 million in damages to victims of torture and human rights abuses that took place whilst he was in power.

    An 8 year long court battle ended earlier this week, with a Washington court ruling Samantar must compensate his victims from his time in office during the 1980s.
  • Desmond Tutu calls for prosecution of Blair and Bush

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George W Bush to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the Iraq war.

  • Congo seeks UN help to neutralise rebels

    Congo has asked the UN peacekeeping force to neutralise a new rebel movement, known as M23 rebels, and a force that helped carry out Rwandas 1994 genocide, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.

  • Mali rebels execute Algerian diplomat
    Islamist rebels in Northern Mali have claimed to have executed an Algerian diplomat that was kidnapped five months ago, claiming that their demands were not being met.

    The Algerian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that they will be investigating the rebels claim to have killed one of the seven diplomats who were captured by the rebels, after the Algerian consulate in northern Mali, was stormed by the militants in April.
  • Switzerland arrests Guatemalan ex-police chief

    The former police chief of Guatemala has been arrested in Geneva on Friday for murders committed between 2004 and 2007.

    Erwin Sperisen will be questioned over eight murders in prisons in Guatemala.

  • Who to call a terrorist

    The US administration is undecided on whether the Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, should be designated as a terrorist organisation, the Washington Times reports. It adds that some officials are concerned such a move could complicate relations with Pakistan, and efforts for peace talks with the Taliban.

  • Syrian rebels seize air defence base

    The Syrian rebels have seized one of the military's air defence bases in the east of the country, a UK based monitoring group reported.

    The attack took place on Saturday in Deir al-Zor province, with the rebels also seizing a number of anti-aircraft rockets, and 16 captives.

  • Senior Indian opposition politician sentenced for role in riots

    A BJP MLA and former aide to Gujarati Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for her role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, which killed over a thousand Muslims.

    Maya Kodnani was convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy.

    Judge Jyotsna Yagnik said Ms Kodnani was a “kingpin of riots”.

  • ICC team probes alleged war crimes in Mali
    A three-member team from the International Criminal Court arrived in Mali on Friday to investigate reports of war crimes committed by Islamists in the country’s north.

    ICC mission chief Amady Ba told journalists,
    "We're in Mali to pick up elements, listen to various people and take a comparative look" 
  • Sudan withdraws UNHRC candidacy
    Following criticism from human rights groups and pro-democracy activists, Sudan has withdrawn its application for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, reports the Associated Press.

    Sudan’s UN Mission said in a letter on Friday that "it is no longer interested in taking up one of the vacancies available in the Human Rights Council" although a reason for withdrawal was not cited.
  • Merkel signs deal to sell 50 Airbus planes to China

    China has completed a deal with a German business delegation, headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, to buy 50 planes, worth $3.5 billion, from Europe’s Airbus.

    Germany has dispatched its biggest trade delegation ever to visit China and signed ten other agreements according to Xinhua news agency.

  • Asylum seeker boat sinks en route to Australia

    A vessel carrying over 150 asylum seekers sank on route to Australia yesterday, approximately 45 nautical miles from Indonesia.

  • Australian govt's moral of the story

    Speaking to reporters on the sinking of an asylum seekers' boat en route to Australia yesterday, the Australian Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare, offered his take on the events:

  • UN finds reports of massacres in DR Congo ‘beyond comprehension’
    The United Nations received reports of massacres in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, that suggest that hundreds of civilians have been slaughtered.

    Commenting on the allegations, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, noted that the allegations still had to be verified, but said,
  • Syrian attacks on bread lines are war crimes – HRW
    Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian government of committing further war crimes, after reports that government forces have repeatedly targeted civilians, whilst they were waiting in queues to receive bread.

    The organisation stated that at least 10 bakeries had been targeted in the last 3 weeks in the Aleppo province, by “artillery shells, rockets, and bombs”.
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