Speaking at the annual African Union summit, the secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki Moon, urged African countries to uphold the rights of civil, political, economic, social and cultural institutions, in order to boost stability and development.

From the summit, held in the capital of Ethopia, Addis Ababa, Ban Ki Moon said, 

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a promise to all people in all places at all times,”

Iran has threatened to hit back at EU sanctions with its own embargo.

The move would pre-empt the EU ban on oil imports due to take effect in July and would hit struggling EU economies hard.

Mohammad Karim Abedi, a member of Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said a ban may last up to 15 years.

"We will change the threat into an opportunity for Iran and cut Iran's oil supplies to the Europeans for five to 15 years," Abedi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Sunday.

A special session was held at the UN on the 27th January, Holocaust Remembrance Day, or International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Speaking at the event, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon said,

"Today, as we remember all those lost during the Holocaust, young and old alike, I call on all nations to protect the most vulnerable – regardless of race, color, gender or religious belief."

Rights groups in Libya have claimed that torture of suspected Gaddafi loyalists by Libyan militias is widespread.

Medicins San Frontiers, a medical charity, has ceased all operations in the country after it was asked to treat torture victims, sometimes between instances of torture.

"Some officials have sought to exploit and obstruct MSF's medical work," says MSF General Director Christopher Stokes.

Calls for the secession of South Yemen have resurfaced and are on the increase as Yemen's political unrest continues.

Graffiti calling for secession, such as "Freedom for South. Aden Get Up", is cropping up across the south, along side prominent displays of the old flag of South Yemen.

The Yemeni security forces have attempted to crack down on such calls since the 1990 pact that unified the North and South.

Guatemala’s former dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, has been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity by Judge Carol Patricia Flores on Thursday.

Rios Montt ruled the country in 1982-83, after a military coup. A 36 -year civil war with leftist guerrillas, which ended in 1996, cost more than 200,000 lives, of which 93% were caused by state and paramilitary forces, according to a UN report.

The former dictator is accused of being involved in the deaths of over 1,700 and the displacement of 29,000 indigenous Guatemalans during his reign.

The former military leader of the Guatemalan army, Efrain Rios Montt, has been summoned to appear before a Guatemalan court on Thursday as the first step towards facing genocide charges for his role during the massacres committed by the army in the Mayan highlands during 1982-1983.

General Rios Montt, now 85 and elected into Congress in 2000, was so far shielded from prosecution. However, that immunity ended earlier this month as his term in office expired.

The only US Marine convicted in the killing of 24 unarmed civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha in 2005, will face no jail time after pleading guilty to a dereliction of duty.

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich’s plea bargain ends the largest and longest running criminal case against US troops to have come out of the Iraq war. Wuterich now faces a maximum of three months confinement and a demotion in rank to Private. A two-thirds cut in pay was not enforced, as Wuterich, who is divorced, had sole custody of his three daughters.