Rwandan war crimes trial starts in Canada

A Rwandan man accused of genocide is due to start trial today in Ottawa. 39 year old Jacques Mungwarere was arrested in the town of Windsor in 2009. The former school teacher is accused of leading and participating in mass killings, including massacres in churches and a hospital. Mungwarere is the second Rwandan prosecuted under Canada’s Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which allows prosecution, irrespective of where and when the crimes were committed. He was caught after a childhood friend recognised him on a bus in Windsor and alerted the authorities. Over 800,000 Tutsis and...

Serb policemen sentenced for Srebrenica genocide

Two Serb policemen have been handed lengthy jail terms by a court in Sarajevo on Friday, for ‘aiding genocide’. Dusko Jevic and Mendeljev Djuric ordered their men to take part in the separating of Muslim men and boys from other villagers and then killing over a thousand of the detainees. Jevic, who was deputy commander of a Bosnian Serb police brigade was sentenced to 35 years, while Djuric, the commander of the brigade’s first company, was jailed for 30 years. The men “aided in the partial destruction of an ethnic group and are guilty of aiding genocide,” Sarajevo court judge Mira Smajlovic...

US grocer deported to Bosnia for alleged genocide

A Las Vegas grocer, who has lived in the US since 1999, has been deported to Bosnia to face charges of genocide and war crimes, committed during the Bosnian war in 1995. Dejan Radojkovic was arrested on arrival at Sarajevo airport following evidence compiled by prosecutors and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague. The 61-year old is accused of rounding up 200 Muslim men in July 1995, as he commanded a Republika Srpska Special Police Squad, before handing them over to Bosnian Serb forces, where they were later executed. Nicole Navas, an Immigration and...

Singh in historic Burma visit

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is beginning an official visit to neighbouring Burma. In the first visit to Burma by an Indian prime minister since 1987, Singh is seeking to strengthen trade and diplomatic cooperation with its neighbour. Ahead of his visit, Mr Singh said he wanted "stronger trade and investment links, development of border areas, improving connectivity between our two countries and building capacity and human resources". Singh is due to meet President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. India has recently signed several deals for the exploitation of Burma’...

US-Pakistan ties damaged by jailing of Dr Afridi - Panetta

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has criticised Pakistan's jailing of the doctor who helped the CIA to track down Osama bin Laden. Speaking to ABC, Panetta said the jaliing had weakened diplomatic ties between the US and Pakistan and that the 33-year jail sentence was "so difficult to understand and so disturbing". "This doctor was not working against Pakistan. He was working against al-Qaida, and I hope Pakistan understands that because what they have done here doesn't help re-establish a relationship between the United States and Pakistan." he further said. Dr Shakil Afridi ran a fake...

Worldwide condemnation of Houla massacre

Syria has received widespread international criticism over the massacre at Houla, after the UN Security Council met on Sunday in an emergency session. The killings saw at least 90 civilians including 34 children killed, many due to either shelling injuries, opr shot and stabbed to death. A UN Security Council statement said that its members "condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings... in the village of (Houla), near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighbourhood... Such outrageous use of force against civilian...

Children killed in Syria massacre

UN observers have confirmed over 90 people, including 32 children, were killed in a massacre in the Syrian city of Houla. The observers were met by horrific scenes when they arrived at Houla to inspect the site. Some of the victims died through shelling, others were stabbed, shot or bludgeoned to death. Videos posted on YouTube indicate people were summarily executed. The head of the UN mission, Maj-Gen Robert Mood told the BBC the killing in Houla was "indiscriminate and unforgivable". The ceasefire brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan looks increasingly worthless, with the Free Syrian Army...

US cuts aid to Pakistan after jailing of doctor

The US has cut $33m in aid in response to the imprisonment of Dr. Shakil Afridi by Pakistan. A Senate panel has said US aid will be cut by $1m for every year of Dr. Afridi’s sentence. Dr Afridi was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for treason. He has been found guilty of assisting the CIA in locating Osama bin Laden. The cuts in aid are part of a bill sending $1bn worth of aid to Pakistan. "We need Pakistan, Pakistan needs us, but we don't need Pakistan double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama Bin Laden to an end," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Secretary...

Navi Pillay calls for lifting of Zimbabwe sanctions

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has called on western countries to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe, as they were hurting the poor. "I would urge those countries that are currently applying sanctions on Zimbabwe to suspend them, at least until the conduct of the elections and related reforms are clear," she said during a visit to the country. "Sanctions should be entirely suspended for people to entirely focus on economic issues that need to be addressed," she added. Ms Pillay also urged the Zimbabwean government to pass reforms to avoid violence at the next elections...

ICC rejects Kenya appeal

The International Criminal Court has rejected an appeal by Kenyans alleged to have been behind mass-violence after the 2008 elections in the country. This could mean that the four men have to face trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity. The men deny the violence which cost the lives of 1,200 people, after the conclusion of controversial presidential elections. The suspects were supporters of the two main candidates, who orchestrated violence as clashes surrounding the elections escalated. One of the suspects, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is the deputy prime minister and son of Kenya’s first...

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