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,…

Netherlands arrest Rwandan genocide suspect

A Rwandan man has placed under arrest by Dutch police, after being suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide and now faces a possible extradition to Rwanda.

The man, identified as 84-year-old “Jean Baptiste M”, is alleged to have led a Hutu extremist party in Rwanda, as well as drawing up hit lists of Tutsis to be murdered and supplying guns to militias during the genocide that claimed 800,000 lives.

Navi Pillay calls for investigation into Rohingya deaths

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on Burma to investigate reports that 48 Rohingya Muslims were killed in attacks by Buddhists in Rakhine state.

A statement said that the UN had received credible information about the deathsin Du Chee Yar Tan village.

South Sudan truce to be signed

The government and the rebels in South Sudan, who have been involved in deadly clashes over the past month, have agreed to a ceasefire, reported mediators in Addis Ababa.

They said that the rivals are expected to sign the agreement on "cessation of hostilities and the question of the detainees" in the Ethiopian capital.

30 Burmese muslims killed in Buddhist rampage

Conservative estimates suggest that over 30 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the latest episode of ethnic violence in the Burmese state of Rakhine,

EU warns Ukraine as protests turn deadly

The head of the European Commission today gave a stern warning to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich to end the violence that has seen battles between protestors and police on the streets of Kiev, after the deaths of at least three people yesterday.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso warned Yanukovich that unless the crackdown against anti-government protestors ends, the European Union may be forced into action.

Investigators compare Syrian torture evidence to ‘Nazi archive’

The authors of a newly released report on torture in Syria have compared the evidence they received to a “Nazi archive”, as talks between the Syrian opposition and the government are set to begin in Geneva.

Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, former lead prosecutor of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic, said,

“It was like getting the keys to the Nazi archive”.

New report shows ‘systematic killing’ of detainees in Syria

A newly released report by three eminent lawyers has documented new evidence that the Syrian state has been “systematically killing” approximately 11,000 prisoners.

The 31-page report, commissioned by Qatar who have been supportive of the Syrian opposition, examines thousands of images of dead prisoners which have been smuggled out of the country.

The bodies show “signs of starvation, brutal beatings, strangulation and other forms of torture”, claimed the report.

Colombian army kills 14 Farc rebels amidst peace talks

The Colombian army has killed 14 Farc rebels, who it alleged were sabotaging oil installations in Arauca province, amidst on-going peace efforts in Cuba for over a year.

Last week, the Farc's unilateral ceasefire ended, as the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos asserted that the conflict would continue until Farc surrendered its arms.

Late last year the two sides announced that a "fundamental agreement" had been reached, including on land reform and a political future.

South Sudan accuses UN of aiding rebels

The South Sudanese government has accused the UN peacekeeping mission in the country of hiding rebels and their arms at their camps, which are giving shelter to over 70,000 civilians.

The country’s president, Salva Kiir has hit out at the UN, saying it acted like a “parallel government” in South Sudan.

"We did not know that when the Unmiss was brought to South Sudan, they were brought as a parallel government with the government in South Sudan," Kiir said.

Seeds of genocide' in CAR, warns UN official

A United Nations official warned that the “seeds of genocide” were present in the Central African Republic, as the European Union looks set to deploy troops to the crisis hit region.

Speaking after a 5-day visit to the country, John Ging, director of operations for the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in a press conference,