After visiting the Bashabsheh refugee camp in Jordan, currently hosting 140000 refugees that have escaped the Syrian conflict, British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has stated that there can be "no impunity" for people committing human rights abuses in Syria. He emphasised that following orders did not excuse officials and others of responsibility for war crimes. Speaking about human rights abusers, Hague said, "They must understand that their actions have consequences, that acting on behalf of the regime does not absolve them of responsibility , and that we are committed to doing all...
The wartime leader Mahmoud Jibril has won Libya's first national elections according to results published on Tuesday. His party, the National Forces Alliance, won 39 out of 80 seats, and the Muslim Brotherhood's Justice and Construction Party took 17. Only 40% of Libya's 200 seats of Congress are reserved for political parties however. The 120 remaining seats are for individual candidtates, many of whom are believed to be supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Two former officials of the Chilean military have been arrested for the killing of General Alberto Bachelet, the father of the former president, Michelle Bachelet. Ramon Caceres and Edgar Ceballos, formerly members of the Chilean Air Force, are charged with torturing to death Gen Bachelet, who died in 1974, after a coup led by Gen Pinochet saw the imposition of military rule in Chile. Judge Mario Carroza said the torture aggravated the general’s heart condition which then caused his death. The case was reopened by Judge Carroza last year following a complaint by relatives of the general. Gen...
Meeting the head of the Egyptian military council (Scaf), Field Marshall Tantawi, on Sunday, the US Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton urged the military make way for a civilian-led democracy. After the meeting, Clinton said, "Democracy is hard. It requires dialogue and compromise and real politics. We are encouraged and we want to be helpful. But we know that it is not for the United States to decide; it is for the Egyptian people to decide." An US State Department official added, “Tantawi stressed that this is what Egyptians need most now, help getting the economy back on track,” “The...
The Syrian government further hampers UN efforts to meet the growing humanitarian needs in Syria, which has been categorised as a civil war by the Red Cross. Speaking after chairing the humanitarian forum in Geneva, the U.N official for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, John Ging, said, “We have a number of visas pending for international staff from a number of Western countries- the United States, Canada, the UK, France and one or two more- that are refused their visas because of their nationalities” Ging made clear that even though Syrian officials were respecting most aspects of a...
Three survivors of the Mau Mau insurgency against British occupation in Kenya have taken their case to the High Court in London. The first case was won last year when the high court ruled that there was "ample evidence … that there may have been systematic torture of detainees during the [Mau Mau] emergency". The court opined it would be "dishonourable" for the courts to accept the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's argument that the Kenyans should be suing their current government. The FCO is now saying the case should be dismissed as too much time has passed since the alleged crimes and a...
The Syrian government denied that heavy weapons and helicopters were used in clashes in Tremseh last week, reports Reuters. Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jihad Makdissi, rejected the accusations, asserting that 37 rebel fighters and two civilians were killed by security forces in the village, from which the government claims rebels were attacking other areas. Speaking at a news conference in Damascus on Sunday, Makdissi said: "The least that can be said about this [statement by Kofi Annan - see below] about what happened in Tremseh is that it did not rely on facts. As diplomatically...
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has placed a new arrest warrant for the Congolees general, Bosco Ntaganda, on the basis of alleged war crimes, varying from murder, rape and sexual slavery. Ntaganda is already wanted by the Hague based court for using child fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The new warrant is linked to suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred between September 2002 and September 2003, in the DRC’s Kivu provinces, a mineral-rich area, which has been conflict ridden for decades. The ICC have pursued the arrest of Ntaganda for 6...
The International Cmmitte of the Red Cross has declared the Syrian conflict a civil war, meaning that combatants are now officialy bound by the Geneva Conventions, which will make them more liable for war crimes prosecutions. The ICRC said the fighting has now spread beyond the three main areas of fighting around Idlib, Hama and Homs. Spokesman Hicham Hassan said Syria was now regards as a "non-international armed conflict", the technical term for civil war. "What matters is that international humanitarian law applies wherever hostilities between government forces and opposition groups are...
A humanitarian catastrophe is imminent in western Burma, aid workers say, as tens of thousands of displaced ethnic Muslim Rohingya are being isolated in camps. Described by a worker as “open air prisons”, the Burmese government has made it clear that the camps for the Rohingya would remain in place for one year. Those affected by the sectarian unrest have been struggling to receive aid, as Burmese authorities continue to hamper aid efforts. As many as 10 aid workers have been arrested by police, including 5 UN staff. Chris Lewa, a member of the Arakan Project, which monitors abuse of the...