WORLD NEWS

World News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Rwandan genocide memorial in Nyamata (Fanny Schertzer) German prosecutors have arrested a German-Rwandan national on suspicion of complicity in genocide and 25 counts of murder during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. The suspect, identified only as Innocent S. under German privacy rules, was arrested in the central German state of Hesse on Wednesday. According to Reuters,…

Germany deems former Nazi ‘unfit for trial’

Prosecutors in Germany concluded that a former SS lieutenant wanted for a World War II massacre in Italy is unfit to face trial.

Gerhard Sommer, who was on top of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted Nazi criminals, was deemed to have severe dementia rendering him unfit for trial.

Mr Sommer, now 93 years old, was convicted in absentia in Italy, over the killing of 560 civilians in the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in August 1944, as the Nazis retreated from the region.

He currently resides at a nursing home in Hamburg-Volksdorf.

UN envoy calls for Kosovo to set up war crimes court

The United Nations envoy to Kosovo urged the government to set up a war crimes court in order to try former Kosovo Liberation Army members for war crimes.

Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, Farid Zarif said the international community expects “no delays in the steps required from Kosovo toward the establishment of the court."

EU judges prosecute former Kosovan militants for war crimes

European Union judges in Kosovo sentenced for former Kosovo-Albanian militants responsible for war crimes during the pro-independence uprising in 1998.

Two of the militants sentenced were close to the former prime minister Hashim Thaci were sentenced by the EU mission.

The mission was established after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

FARC peace-talk negotiator killed by Colombian government air raid

Officials from the FARC militants in Colombia announced that one of their peace negotiators had been killed in the Colombian government’s last bombing raid.

Pedro Nel Daza Martinez, also known as Jairo, was one of the 27 Farc militants killed in bombing raids last Thursday.

One of the rebel commanders, Pastor Alape, in a statement made on Wednesday, said,

UN warns of famine in South Sudan, China urges ceasefire between warring parties

The latest escalations in violence will bring at least 40% of South Sudan’s population in danger of  facing a severe food shortage in coming months said the chief adviser for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Stressing that the conflict in South Sudan would have a severe impact on the people, Erminio Sacco, said,

Amnesty International finds war crimes committed by Hamas in Gaza

Amnesty International in a report released on Tuesday said that Hamas militants had committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip during last year’s conflict with Israel.

EU warns of war crimes as IS captures Palmyra

The European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned of potential war crimes being committed by the Islamic State (IS) after the fall of the ancient city of Palmyra last week.

"With the reported occupation of the ancient city of Palmyra by [IS], yet again hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more risk to be exposed to arbitrary violent actions and more destructions of cultural sites might be perpetrated," said Ms Mogherini in a statement.

UN, EU and AU urge Burundi to uphold political dialogue amidst escalating violence

The United Nations, European Union and African Union called on Burundi’s government and opposition to ensure that dialogue continues after an opposition politician was shot dead.

The institutions, which have been facilitating dialogue since the start of this month, jointly "urged all participants to remain fully engaged in the dialogue.”

Ongoing war crimes in Ukraine conflict says Amnesty International

Ongoing war crimes were being committed by both warring sides of the conflict in Ukraine conflict found an Amnesty International report into the situation.

Amnesty’s program director for Europe and Central Asia programs, John Dalhuisen, said,

UN to investigate executions in Mali

The UN said on Friday that it was in the process of investigating reports of serious human rights abuses in Mali, which included the mass execution of civilians in northern Mali during clashes this week.

The clashes between, Tuareg separatist militants and pro-government paramilitary groups in the north of the country killed at least six civilians and aid workers on Thursday, reports Reuters.