A motion, backing the ‘inviolability of diplomatic missions’ has been passed by the Organisation of American States, amidst the ongoing row over Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s avoidance of facing extradition to Sweden by hiding in Ecuador’s embassy in London. Ecuador called for the vote saying the UK threatened to storm the embassy to arrest Assange, however the resolution was reworded after the UK insisted it made no such threat. Although the motion expressed solidarity with Ecuador, strong pleas by Ecuador’s foreign minister Ricardo Patino to include the alleged threat fell on deaf ears...
A Crown prosecutor, formerly part of a UN initiative to investigate war crimes in the DRC, has slammed the ‘floundering’ program stating he was ‘blocked’ from making any substantial progress in bringing war criminals to justice. John Lester, who served as a Crown prosecutor in British Columbia, Canada before joining the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stated the initiative was “accomplishing nothing.“ “ It’s bullsh**, just spinning. People aren’t doing anything there except writing and reading reports.” Under the UN mandate, it is up to the Congolese to investigate and prosecute any war criminals, with Mr Lester and his colleagues left to “ assist” the Congolese military courts. However, the military prosecutors soon stated “there were no crimes to prosecute”, noting that the UN was only “invited” to help assist in cases of war crimes. Lester stated he was “blocked from doing my job” , adding, “The entire expensive mission depends upon the individual whims of military prosecutors”
France has suggested that they would participate in enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria, as the French Foreign Minister called for the Syrian regime to be "smashed fast". France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking on French television, called on the international community to consider imposing a no-fly zone in Syria, a move that he claimed france would participate in backing. His remarks came as Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said last week, "The Syrian regime should be smashed fast" "After hearing the refugees and their account of the massacres of the regime, Mr Bashar al-Assad doesn't deserve to be on this earth. " "It is an operation of destruction of an entire people that he is trying to accomplish" "The sooner this regime leaves, the better ... Every single day gives Bashar Assad regime time to use for bombing his own people. "
Egypt’s President, Mohamed Morsi, has passed a law banning the pre-trial detention of those accused of media crimes, in his first use of legislative powers seized from the country’s military. The move has led to the freeing of one of Morsi’s harshest critics, newspaper editor Islam Afifi, who was arrested mere hours before the declaration. Afifi faced charges of various charges including “insulting the President”, a crime under Egyptian law. Commenting on the arrest of Afifi, US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said , " We did express concerns quite strongly that one of the cornerstones of a vibrant democracy is a free press and respect for freedom of expression and called on Egypt to ensure that it is protecting those freedoms moving forward." “ The Egyptian Government was very much aware and has been aware that we made some comments here about media freedom and took note of those ” .
Israel has reacted angrily to a move by South Africa which will see all goods produced in Israeli settlements to be labelled as from the “Occupied Palestinian Territories”, and has summoned the South African ambassador to explain decision. The move was slammed as "totally unacceptable" and "blatant discrimination" by Israel, who said, "Such exclusion and discrimination bring to mind ideas of racist nature which the government of South Africa, more than any other, should have wholly rejected." But South Africa defended the step, stating it conformed with their existing policy on the issue, with government spokesman Jimmy Manyi stating, "This is in line with South Africa's stance that recognises the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognise occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel". South African trade and industry minister, Rob Davies also added that the labelling would help "South Africans who do not support Israel, but who do support the Palestinians, to identify those products".
The trial of Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, is set to take place in the Libyan city of Zintan next month announced Libyan prosecutors, despite efforts by the International Criminal Court to have him tried at The Hague. Prosecutor general spokesman Taha Nasser Baara stated that, "A committee from the prosecutor general's office has completed its investigation into the crimes committed by Seif al-Islam from the start of the revolution on February 15 (2011) and has prepared the charge sheet," Baara dismissed requests by the ICC to have Saif tried abroad, stating that "during investigations, there was no intervention by the ICC." He went on to say that the prosecution had "solid proof in the form of sound recordings, images, documents and testimony", commenting, "We believe that this evidence is sufficient to condemn and judge him."
United Nations announced on Wednesday that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be attending a summit with leaders of 120 non-aligned nations next week in Tehran, despite a strong call to boycott the meeting by the US and Israel. Ban is expected to have “meaningful and fruitful discussions” revolving around human rights issues, nuclear program and the ongoing crisis in Syria with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with top diplomats of the Iranian government.
The Australian Jewish community has reacted with outrage at the halting of the extradition of a Nazi-era war crimes suspect to Hungary. 90-year-old Charles Zentai escaped extradition to Hungary after he won a legal battle in Australia’s courts last week. He is accused of participating in the murder of Jews in Hunary in 1944. Jeremy Jones, a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry slammed the decision as “a fickle, cynical abrogation of morality” , commenting, "Australian governments, through commission and omission , had been complicit in allowing torturers, murderers and architects of the most gross inhumanity to come and live,in peace and without fear of consequences, in Australia. " "My Australia. Our Australia. In the country that had taken in so many good and decent people who had rebuilt their lives and rebuilt the nation. Australia – which held itself up to the world as an exemplar of decency. " "There had been a gross distortion of decency , allowing fugitives to take places of refugees… with the result being a moral stain on our country . " “This decision almost screams from the rooftops that Australia lacks the will to redress a great historic wrong .” See his full statement here .
British Prime Minister David Cameron has joined Barak Obama in warning Syria that any planned use or threat of use of their chemical weapons stockpile would be ‘completely unacceptable’. A Downing Street official said that the two leaders spoke on the telephone and said that if Assad made such a move it "would force them to revisit their approach so far”. Mr Cameron also discussed ways to increase support to the Syrian opposition with French president Francois Hollande. They agreed to "work more closely to identify how they could bolster the opposition and help a potential transitional Syrian...
The Ecuadorian deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, has confirmed that Ecuador will treat an extradition request from the Belarusian government for a former financial crimes investigator, Aliaksandr Barankov, with the same respect for human rights that guided its actions in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. “Ecuador will put emphasis on not extraditing a citizen whose life is at risk, from the death penalty or life in prison,” Albuja told reporters. Barankov is backed by activists in Belarus , where President Lukashenko has ruled for 18 years by, fixing elections, quashing free speech, jailing dissidents and keeping 80 percent of industry in state hands.