Former Argentine military ruler Jorge Videla has been sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity, the BBC reports . The general is accused of being the main architect of what became known as Argentina's ‘ Dirty War ’ – a period of state-sponsored terror friom 1976 to 1983 in which up to 30,000 people were killed or ‘disappeared’. See a survivor’s account here . An Argentine court, however, found Gen Videla, 85, guilty of a specific crime : the torture and murder of 31 prisoners in 1976. During the Dirty War, Argentina’s dictatorship was then supported by the United States in the...
India and Russia this week discussed setting up more nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu, in addition to the two being jointly built which will become operational in the next two years, IANS reported. Announcing the discussions on ‘additional nuclear reactors’, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said the move “reflects our mutual desire for strong cooperation in the field of defence and (civil) nuclear energy.”
India and Russia signed on Tuesday India's largest ever defence deal, worth $30 billion, for fifth-generation fighter aircraft, reports said . India will take delivery of 250 of the stealth fighters between 2020 and 2030, each of which will ultimately cost $100m. The agreement is notable in underlining how India is now not only looking to acquire equipment but also to ensure that transfer of technological know-how to its domestic industry is integral to such deals.
German prosecutors have filed war crimes charges against two Rwandan men said to have lead a Hutu militia involved in killings of Congolese civilians. The pair said to be the top military leaders of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda - a militia drawn from Hutus from Rwanda who took cover across the border in Congo after the 1994 genocide. They are specifically held responsible for 26 crimes against humanity and 39 war crimes that were committed by militiamen under their command in Congo from January 2008 to November 2009. They See reports by Associated Press and AFP .
“ Our relationship has assumed global and strategic significance . The growing inter-dependence of nations provides both the opportunity and the obligation for India and China to cooperate together to meet the challenges facing the international community. “India-China relations have achieved a high degree of maturity that serves the interest of our two peoples. As the Asian century unfolds, we must work together to bring peace, stability and development to our peoples, to the region and to the world at large.” - Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, speaking at a banquet for Chinese Premier Wen...
"He is not under house arrest, he is under country arrest. [And] When he is outside, he flies with half the air force because he knows he can be arrested." Chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, tells AFP of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir who faces ICC warrants for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Bashir's is the first warrant for genocide issued by the ICC. This week he is due to attend a regional summit in Zambia which, despite being an ICC signatory, has not agreed to arrest him. South Africa and Uganda have however said they...
That Sri Lanka won’t be present at the award ceremony on Friday, when jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo receives the Nobel Peace Prize is no surprise. But here’s the logic: One diplomat from Sri Lanka initially told The Wall Street Journal that its embassy in Oslo was sure to send someone "if nobody had a cold," but later said that no one would attend, saying: "We are a small country and China is now our friend."
“We are appalled to learn that the [UK] government is pressing ahead with ill-considered restrictions on judicial powers to order the arrest of suspected war criminals. Not only is it morally right, but it is also our international obligation to bring war criminals to justice, wherever their crimes were committed. … “Requiring the prior consent of the director of public prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued introduces delay, making it easy for the suspect to leave the country, and risks introducing political interference. … “We urge all parliamentary political parties to reject...
“Not credit as a means to advance a positive social outcome, but credit as a means to create the profit-spinning foundation of a company.” See the Toronto Star’s report here on what has happened to the microcredit dream three decades after it began. “The concept of microcredit is being blatantly abused. Now any traditional loan shark anywhere can easily claim that they are the promoters of microcredit. What we created to fight loan sharks now is being used to give loan sharks a respectable identity.” Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus , founder of microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank , warning earlier this year that turning microcredit into a high-profit, high growth business would devastate the poor. (Separately, Prof. Yunus has become mired in controversy after Norway last week began investigating claims Grameen had diverted aid given by Oslo for microcredit projects to other, commercial, parts of the bank. The bank denies the claims).
Amnesty International Wednesday slammed Britain’s announcement of new measures restricting the issuing of arrest warrants for suspected war criminals and torturers visiting the UK as “dangerous and unnecessary.”