The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he is seeking the arrest of Bosco Ntaganda and Sylvestre Mudacumura, both of whom are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes. “When impunity prevails, persons like Bosco Ntaganda are encouraged to continue committing crimes. They increase their power through violence... Now more than ever is the time to arrest him," an ICC statement says. General Ntaganda, also known as ‘The Terminator’, a former member of the armed forces,...
File Photo (EUNAVFOR) Naval forces of the European Union have conducted raids on Somali territory for the first time. Several boats were destroyed when EU helicopters and two warships attacked pirate bases near the town of Haradhere. A statement released by the European Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) said no injuries were sustained by either side during the raid. “The focused, precise and proportionate action was conducted from the air and all forces returned safely to EU warships on completion. Whilst assessment is on-going, surveillance of the area during the action indicates that no Somalis were...
A UN convoy, escorting unarmed UN monitors, came under attack during a government crackdown on protesters in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria on Monday. According to eye witnesses tensions were running high after a crowd of protesters arrived to mourn at the funeral of a fellow protester who had been killed by government forces. As the demonstration intensified, government forces opened fire at the protesters. Twenty people were killed, and three UN vehicles were damaged. Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesperson for the UN special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, said, “The UN mission in Syria reports that,...
India's former foreign minister and leader of the opposition BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), Yashwant Sinha, called on the UK to withdraw its aid money stating that India did not need "that kind of assistance or advice". Welcoming the Indian finance minister's comments that UK aid was "peanuts" relative to India's overall budget, Sinha said, “You can tell the British public from our side that they can keep their money, use it for their own welfare, or divert it to some other country which is in greater need.” “[Aid] gives an opportunity to those countries who are giving us small sums of money...
NATO has criticised a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) , urging it to investigate civilian deaths from air strikes during the alliance’s offensive against Colonel Gaddafi’s forces. HRW claims in its report released on Monday that over 72 civilians were killed in 8 separate NATO air strikes. “We're calling for prompt, credible and thorough investigations," HRW's Fred Abrahams told BBC News. "Until now, NATO has taken a position of denial [...] I think it will lead to unnecessary civilian deaths in the future if NATO refuses to look at what went wrong and make corrections." NATO spokesperson...
European Union foreign ministers have failed to agree whether to boycott the Ukraine during the forthcoming Euro 2012 football tournament, due to the treatment of former Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko by the government. "We are not at a stage to make a decision on attendance but will follow developments carefully," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton According to AFP "long and heated" talks took place between the bloc's 27 foreign ministers, with some countries pushing for a total boycott and others preferring to engage with the Ukraine to make progress on human rights issues. "I...
China joined Japan and South Korea in condemnation of any further nuclear testing by North Korea. Following a summit held in Beijing on Sunday between the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, the Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, and Lee Myung Bak of South Korea, the three countries deemed any future tests as "unacceptable". Speaking to reporters after the meeting Lee Myung Bak said, “Our three countries agreed that we will not accept further nuclear tests or further provocations from North Korea,” Warning of "unstable" elements in the region, Wen Jiabao said, “The various parties need to use...
Israel faced increasing calls to take action on over 2000 Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strike, including two who have refused food for 77 days, amid concerns for their health. Palestinian groups state that a further six Palestinians are in a "critical" condition. Egyptian mediators have continued attempts to negiotiate a deal in an effort to prevent current demonstrations in Gaza and the West Bank spiralling if one of the hunger striker was to die. The Middle East peace envoy, the former UK prime minister Tony Blair, said he was "increasingly concerned about the deteriorating...
The former head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party has been indicted by a war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh. Ghulam Azam, 89, is accused of carrying out war crimes during Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan. Azam is thought to have led pro-Pakistani militias which carried out atrocities during the 9-month war in 1971. "The International Crimes Tribunal charged him with crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, rape, abduction, arson and other crimes under international law," state prosecutor Ziad Al Malum told AFP. Mr Azam has pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued that they...
The US will resume the sale of some military equipment to Bahrain, the State Department announced Friday, whilst recognising "a number of serious unresolved human rights issues". Speaking to The Washington Post, a senior official said , “our desire to help the Bahrainis maintain their external defense capabilities, and a determination that it is in U.S. national interest to let these things go forward,” US officials have declined to release a full list of equipment that will be approved for sale, however one official reportedly said items that “used against protesters in any scenario" would...