A court in Guatemala has imprisoned five former right-wing militia members for a massacre committed in 1982 during the country’s civil war. The men were members of the Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil, a civilian paramilitary group created by the Guatemalan army to fight left-wing rebels. They were sentenced to a total of 7,710 years in prison for guiding the army to Plan de Sanchez, a village in northern Guatemala, and taking part in the ensuing massacre. Judge Jazmin Barrios set a sentence of 30 years for each of the 256 victims in addition to 30 years for crimes against humanity. The case...
The New York Times reported Thursday (see full text here ): Taken together, increasing [domestic] production and declining consumption have unexpectedly brought the United States markedly closer to a goal that has tantalized presidents since Richard Nixon: independence from foreign energy sources, a milestone that could reconfigure American foreign policy, the economy and more. In 2011, the country imported just 45 percent of the liquid fuels it used, down from a record high of 60 percent in 2005. “There is no question that many national security policy makers will believe they have much more...
The US has exempted Japan and 10 EU nations from sanctions imposed on countries which continue to buy oil from Iran. The sanctions, imposed by Congress at the end of last year, are designed to deter countries from importing Iranian oil. In a statement released on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the exemptions were granted because the countries had taken difficult steps to reduce their reliance on Iranian oil. "They had to rethink their energy needs at a critical time for the world economy and quickly begin to find alternatives to Iranian oil which many had been reliant on...
Libya’s National Transitional Council has claimed to be close to a deal with the Mauritanian government to extradite Libya’s former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur announced on Twitter that "We have agreement from Mauritania to deliver Senussi to Libya where he will receive a fair trial. No date has been decided, but it will be very soon." However sources Nouakchott soon denied the claims. "We agreed to study their request favourably. It's almost a done deal but one should be careful. The French are applying lots of pressure," a security source...
Burma has invited the US and the European Union to send officials to observe its by-elections to be held on the first of April. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is running for one of the 48 seats, the first time in over 20 years she is taking part in an election. An AFP news report, citing an unnamed Burmese official, said that representatives from the UN had also been invited. ''It will be like a joint team with Asean, the EU, the US and the UN," the official told AFP. The US embassy in Rangoon welcomed the move in a statement. "We are encouraged that the Burmese authorities have invited...
In an open letter to the Syrian National Council, released Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW), detailed allegations of kidnapping for ransom, detention, and torture of security force members and government supporters. HRW's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said, "The Syrian government's brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups," "Opposition leaders should make it clear to their followers that they must not torture, kidnap, or execute under any circumstances." Extracts reproduced below: "We recognize that the perpetrators of these abuses are not always easy to identify nor do they necessarily belong to an organized command structure that follows the orders of the SNC or other opposition groups. Some reports received by Human Rights Watch indicate that in addition to armed groups with political motivations, criminal gangs, sometimes operating in the name of the opposition, may be carrying out some of these crimes."
The death of a farmer, who self immolated in protest against Chinese rule, sparked a protest with thousands of Tibetans gathering for his funeral, with tensions in Tibetan areas continuing to grow. 43-year old Sonam Dargye died on Saturday after setting himself alight in the province of Qinghai, becoming the third Tibetan to immolate in the past three days, and almost the 30th in the past year. Radio Free Asia commented that as many as 7,000 people gathered at his funeral. The London-based Free Tibet organisation quoted an eyewitness as saying , "[Sunday's protest] is the biggest gathering of...
Amnesty International has accused NATO forces of failing to investigate sufficiently civilian deaths caused by air strikes during attacks on Colonel Gaddafi’s forces. "Nato officials repeatedly stressed their commitment to protecting civilians," said Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis adviser at Amnesty. "They cannot now brush aside the deaths of scores of civilians with some vague statement of regret without properly investigating these deadly incidents." Amnesty says an inquiry should be held into the deaths and if those resulted from a breach of international law, those responsible have to...
Addressing his successors, Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, stressed the need for political reform, warning against a second Cultural revolution. “Without successful political structural reform . . . new problems that have arisen in Chinese society will not be fundamentally resolved and such historical tragedies as the Cultural Revolution may happen again,” said Jiabao. Drawing on recent events in the Arab Springs, Jiabao said, “ The Arab demands for democracy must be respected. It is a force that cannot be held back .”
A Brazilian judge has blocked attempts by prosecutors to try former army colonel Sebastiao de Moura for human rights abuses committed in the 1970s. The judge ruled the move would go against Brazil’s amnesty laws. Judge Matos, the federal judge in Maraba in the northern state of Para, said in his ruling: "To try after more than three decades to dodge the amnesty law and reopen the debate on crimes committed during the military dictatorship is a mistake." The amnesty laws were passed in 1979, during the military dictatorship which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. Under the law, any officials...