In the fourth allegation this week, Syrian activists today published online, alleged evidence of chemical weapons attacks on civilians, reports the BBC.

Opposition activists also published photographs of injuries similar to those suffered from chemical weapons attacks.

A UN inquiry in December found credible evidence of the usage of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict.
The Syrian government failed to meet a deadline in February to hand over its 1300 tonne chemical weapon agent stockpile and has an impending deadline in June to destroy all its chemical weapons.

Burma’s presidential spokesperson, yesterday confirmed that a senior commander and several troops, had been killed in fights with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), reports Voice of America.

The KIA spokesperson, rejecting calls from the government to disarm, expressed concern over the state militarisation of the area, and said,

Britain’s National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on Prime Minister David Cameron to establish a full public enquiry into the 1984 Amritsar massacre, following revelations in recently released official documents about British assistance in planning the Indian military’s assault on the Golden Temple in which thousands were killed.

In a statement Wednesday the NUJ said delegates at its conference last week unanimously accepted a motion calling for a British public inquiry that would cover “all the documents and events relating to India, covering the whole of 1984.”

The United Nations Security Council, commemorating the Rwandan genocide, apologised for the UN’s failure at preventing the mass atrocities.

The former president of the Security Council at the time of the massacre, Colin Keating, addressing the council today, said,

“This briefing also provides a fitting opportunity, for me in my capacity as former President of the Council to apologise for what we failed to do in 1994 and for that to be formally recorded in the official records of the Security Council.”

The European Commission distributed documents outlining trade and financial sanctions on Russia, reports Reuters.

Elaborating on the need for a strong and balanced sanctions package, a diplomat briefed on the sanctions said,

“We can’t have a situation where a set of sanctions ends up having a retaliatory impact o none member state or two or three member states. If there are going to be repercussions from this, they have to be shared out.”

Approximately 100 school girls were abducted in an attack on a school in north-east Nigeria said officials today.

The gunmen, who are believed to be from the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, forced the teenage students into lorries reports the BBC.

The militant group, whose name means “Western education is forbidden” , is responsible for an armed movement looking to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

A bomb blast yesterday, allegedly carried out by the group, in the same region killed over 100 civilians.

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The foundations of genuine and lasting peace after a long civil war would be damaged if Nepal gives amnesties for serious crimes committed during the conflict, said the UN human rights chief today.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement Monday, warned that Nepal’s legislation to set up a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Disappeared persons’ would grant powers to the panel to recommend amnesties contrary to the fundamental principles of international law, reports Reuters.

The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, today,  rejected arguments to drop charges of genocide against a former Bosnian Serb army chief, reports the BBC.

One of the judges, Alphons Orie, responding to assertions that there was not enough evidence, cited material presented by prosecutors including, video footage of the army chief calling for revenge against the Muslims in Srebrenica.

“The accused has a case to answer on all counts,” the judge said.

The United Nations human rights Chief, Navi Pillay, commenting on a report released by her office today, condemned the ‘rampant’ and ‘routine’ use of torture by Syrian authorities.

“In armed conflict, torture constitutes a war crime. When it is used in a systematic or widespread manner, which is almost certainly the case in Syria, it also amounts to a crime against humanity,” said the human rights chief.