The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted resolution (2150) in which it called on all states to renew their commitment to prevent and fight against genocide and other serious crimes under international law.

Through the resolution, the Council also called upon States that had not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to consider doing so as a matter of high priority.

The Council, presently under the presidency of Nigeria, was marking the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

Twenty-six years have passed since Saddam Hussein's campaign of mass killings against the Kurds in northern Iraq. Yet to date, no governments - except for Iraq's - have officially recognised the campaign as constituting a genocide. That allows them to avoid legal liability for supporting and arming Saddam during this time, writes Sofia Barbarani in Al Jazeera’s website.

Rwanda in partnership with Interpol hosted an international meeting this week to discuss strategies against ideologies that lead to genocide

 Participants in the April 14 - 16 meet included national law enforcement and judicial authorities as well as experts from Interpol member countries, representatives of international organisations, civil society organisations, academia and the media.

India is sending a stealth frigate to participate in an international fleet review and maritime exercise hosted by the Chinese Navy on April 23, which the United States declining to join after Japan was excluded from the event. See The Hindu’s report.

The interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, addressing Ukrainian parliament today, said an amnesty bill was prepared for separatists who laid down their arms and left government buildings in response to an agreement made in Geneva yesterday.

The United States, European Union, Russia and Ukraine yesterday, agreed a plan to help deescalate tensions in eastern Ukraine in Geneva.

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, today urged the Burmese government to intervene in the Rakhine state and end the violence between Buddhists and Muslims, reports Voice of America.

Speaking at the end of a briefing at the United Nations Security council on the situation in Burma, Power said that the United states to support Burma’s reforms but was greatly concerned by the ethnically driven violence in the country.

Gunmen in South Sudan on Thursday attacked a UN peacekeepers’ camp where thousands of people had sought safety, killing at least 58 people, the Washington Post reports.

Almost 5000 civilians were sheltering at the camp. The South Sudan government today deployed troops to provide security for UN facilities.

The United Nations said the gunmen, using a peaceful demonstration as cover, stormed the camp and opened fire after breaking through the gate.

The United Nations Security Council has  expressed outrage at the attacks.

The United Nations launched an appeal for $274 million to aid people that have fled the sectarian conflict in the Central African Republic, reports the Associated Press.

“All agencies working in the region are dramatically underfunded,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said today.

In the fourth allegation this week, Syrian activists today published online, alleged evidence of chemical weapons attacks on civilians, reports the BBC.

Opposition activists also published photographs of injuries similar to those suffered from chemical weapons attacks.

A UN inquiry in December found credible evidence of the usage of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict.
The Syrian government failed to meet a deadline in February to hand over its 1300 tonne chemical weapon agent stockpile and has an impending deadline in June to destroy all its chemical weapons.

Burma’s presidential spokesperson, yesterday confirmed that a senior commander and several troops, had been killed in fights with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), reports Voice of America.

The KIA spokesperson, rejecting calls from the government to disarm, expressed concern over the state militarisation of the area, and said,