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,…

Former Bosnian paramilitary soldier detained in France

French police today, detained a former Bosnian Serb paramilitary soldier allegedly responsible for the death of 59 people after burning civilians alive in a locked house, during the 1992-95 war.

Over 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian war, leaving 4.6 million people as refugees.

EU to set up tribunal for Kosovo war crimes

The European Union will look to establish an international tribunal that solely focuses on crimes allegedly committed by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian rebels during their war with Serbia, reports the Associated Press.

The court, which will be set up and paid for by the EU, will consider allegations of atrocities and disappearances committed by the victorious Kosovan military at the end of the war.
Outlining the need for a credible process, an EU official said,

Chad to withdraw peace-keeping forces from CAR

The Chadian Foreign Ministry announced today that it will pull out its peacekeeping troops from the African Union mission in the Central African Republic in protest of allegations that they were aiding rebels.

The Foreign Ministry’s statement outlined that its forces has been victim of  a “gratuitous and malicious campaign” that placed blame on them for the escalating suffering and conflict in CAR.

Last week Chadian forces were blamed for the deaths of 24 civilians in the capital of CAR, Bangui.

US calls on Myanmar to allow aid agencies to help Rohingya community

The United States, this week, called on Myanmar, to lift travel restrictions on the United Nations and other humanitarian staff and allow them to resume work in the Rakhine state.

Expressing concern over violent Buddhist mob attacks on UN and non-governmental organisation offices, the  State Department said,

Israel halts Palestine prisoner release, calls for peace-talks review

Israel, today, backtracked on the scheduled release of a group of Palestinian prisoners and called for the entire negotiation process to be reviewed.

Israeli officials alleged that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas’ move to officially submit applications for membership at 15 UN bodies, had broken confidence in the negotiations.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday, restarted the application process, blaming Israel’s reluctance to release prisoners and attempts to lengthen the negotiation process.

Burma census ignores Rohingya community confirms UN agency

The United Nations Population Fund Agency (UNFPA) helping Burma conduct its first census in decades, expressed concern today over the omission of ethnic Rohingya in the national census.
 
Accusing the government of the going backwards on its word, the agency reported that census workers were walking away from houses that identified themselves ethnically as Rohingya.

US doubles number of alleged Japanese war criminals banned from entry

The US government confirmed, today, that it had doubled the number of suspected Japanese war criminals that were banned from entering the country.

Diplomatic sources revealed to the globalpost, that several of the suspected war criminals, were members of a notorious Japanese military unit that conducted biological experiments on war prisoners, and were involved in the sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women for Japanese troops. 

UN Sec Gen calls on governments to commit to preventing atrocities

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, addressing the International Conference on genocide Prevention, today, reiterated that defending human rights was a global responsibility and called on governments to renew their commitment and political will towards preventing any mass atrocities from occurring again.

Ki-moon expressed dismay at the UN’s ‘actions and inactions at Srebrenica’ and added that the organisation had been working hard to “draw lessons from those failures.”

Subjugation of Tibetans in Nepal results from Chinese pressure, says HRW

Human Rights Watch  (HRW) in a report released today, outlined that the increased restrictions on Tibetans in Nepal were a result of strong pressure from China.

NATO suspends practical engagement with Russia

NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia, today, in protest of Russian involvement in the annexation of Crimea and outlined plans to take measures to strengthen Ukraine’s defences.

Informing the press of NATO’s decision, the Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said,

“We are suspending all practical cooperation with Russia, military and civilian.”