The Metropolitan police in the UK have charged a Nepalese army officer on two counts of torture committed during the country's civil war in 2005. The officer, Colonel Kumar Lama who is currently employed as an UN peace keeper in Sudan and visiting the UK was arrested on Thursday by Met police. Charged with intentionally "inflicting severe pain or suffering" whilst a public official on two separate individuals during April and May 2005 at the Gorusinghe Army Barracks in Nepal, Col Lama will face trial under a UK law that allows prosecution of alleged war criminals. He will appear before...
Ten police officers were injured on Thursday evening during further loyalists riots over the removal of the union flag at Belfast City Hall. The violence, centred mainly around East Belfast, broke out on Thursday at around 6.30pm by Albertbridge Road, Castlereagh Road and Mountpottinger Street. Commenting on the incident Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said: "It was initiated by the loyalist protesters and unfortunately for a number of weeks now we have been trying to facilitate lawful protest and we have been trying to do that in a proportionate and a graduated way." "This sort of...
Supporters of Fatah flocked to a mass rally held in Gaza in Friday, with the numbers reaching 'hundreds of thousands' according to a Fatah spokesperson. The rally was the first to have been held by Fatah in Gaza, since Hamas won elections there in 2007 and subsequently gained control of the territory. The move signalled closer relations between the two groups with Hamas stating the rally was a "celebration of national unity and a success for Hamas as well as Fatah... This positive atmosphere is a step on road to restoring national unity". In a speech broadcast from Ramallah, Abbas said, "Gaza...
Congolese rebels have threatened to walk away from this week’s peace talks following an increased presence of government troops in the east. The rebel, March 23 Movement(M23), affirmed that they would walk away unless the government agreed to sign an official ceasefire. Speaking to reporters the head of the rebel’s political wing, Jean-Marie Runiga, said, “If Kinshasa continues to refuse to sign a ceasefire, M23 is going to ask its delegation to return to the DRC” A government spokesman dismissed the rebel demand, stating, “There’s no point in a ceasefire. When did we declare war?" The first...
US forces have landed in Turkey to man Patriot missile stations along the Syrian border, reported Turkish state media Anadolu. Patriot missile defense batteries were station in the region by U.S., Germany and the Netherlands in response to Syrian attacks on border villages. Nato will be in overall control of the missiles and the soldiers, while the missiles will be operated by US troops.
Nepal’s government has summoned the UK ambassador in protest at the arrest by British police of a Nepali army officer on allegations of torture. Col Kumar Lama, a serving member of Nepal's army who was visiting the UK, is accused of torturing a detainee in 2005 during Nepal's civil war. British law allows prosecutors to act against people suspected of torture no matter where it took place in the world. The arrest is based on a complaint filed by Advocacy Forum Nepal on behalf of a man who says he was tortured by Colonel Lama in army custody. Nepal says Britain is breaching its sovereignty by...
A 46-year old man from Nepal has been arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police, over allegations of torture, committed in 2005 during the war in Nepal. He was held on Thursday in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex and is currently detained in a police station in neighbouring Sussex. The BBC reported that the man is thought to be linked to the former government and was arrested due to a complaint made in the UK. Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 allows prosecution of human rights abuses, even if they are unconnected to the UK, under “Universal Jurisdiction”. In the UK, the Met is...
The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has reignited the longstanding debate over the Falkland Islands, provoking responses from both the British Prime Minister and the British Foreign Office, who staunchly have defended the islanders right to self-determination. Kirchner sparked the recent row by publishing a letter in the Guardian which slammed what she called "a blatant exercise of 19th Century colonialism" and called for the restoration of the “territorial integrity” of the Argentine Republic. British Prime Minister David Cameron responded by saying, “ The future of...
French Member of Parliament has submitted a new draft of a bill that will criminalise denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915, after France’s highest court deemed it unconstitutional last year. The bill, submitted by French Parliament Member Valerie Boyer, looks to introduce a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for denial of the genocide. Last year the bill was successfully passed by parliament only to be halted by the French Constitutional Council, who deemed it unconstitutional. The bill also provoked an angry reaction from Turkey who threatened “total rapture” with France. Newly elected...
The UN Security Council has placed sanctions on the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sanctions, imposed on New Years’ Eve, mean that those connected to the rebels will face travel bans and the freezing of their assets. Sanctions were also placed on Rwanda’s FDLR rebel movement. Rwanda and Uganda are accused of supporting the M23 rebels by the UN, but both governments have denied the allegations. Rwanda joined the UN Security Council on New Years’ day for a two year term.