US forces have landed in Turkey to man Patriot missile stations along the Syrian border, reported Turkish state media Anadolu. Patriot missile defense batteries were station in the region by U.S., Germany and the Netherlands in response to Syrian attacks on border villages. Nato will be in overall control of the missiles and the soldiers, while the missiles will be operated by US troops.
Nepal’s government has summoned the UK ambassador in protest at the arrest by British police of a Nepali army officer on allegations of torture. Col Kumar Lama, a serving member of Nepal's army who was visiting the UK, is accused of torturing a detainee in 2005 during Nepal's civil war. British law allows prosecutors to act against people suspected of torture no matter where it took place in the world. The arrest is based on a complaint filed by Advocacy Forum Nepal on behalf of a man who says he was tortured by Colonel Lama in army custody. Nepal says Britain is breaching its sovereignty by...
A 46-year old man from Nepal has been arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police, over allegations of torture, committed in 2005 during the war in Nepal. He was held on Thursday in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex and is currently detained in a police station in neighbouring Sussex. The BBC reported that the man is thought to be linked to the former government and was arrested due to a complaint made in the UK. Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 allows prosecution of human rights abuses, even if they are unconnected to the UK, under “Universal Jurisdiction”. In the UK, the Met is...
The President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has reignited the longstanding debate over the Falkland Islands, provoking responses from both the British Prime Minister and the British Foreign Office, who staunchly have defended the islanders right to self-determination. Kirchner sparked the recent row by publishing a letter in the Guardian which slammed what she called "a blatant exercise of 19th Century colonialism" and called for the restoration of the “territorial integrity” of the Argentine Republic. British Prime Minister David Cameron responded by saying, “ The future of...
French Member of Parliament has submitted a new draft of a bill that will criminalise denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915, after France’s highest court deemed it unconstitutional last year. The bill, submitted by French Parliament Member Valerie Boyer, looks to introduce a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for denial of the genocide. Last year the bill was successfully passed by parliament only to be halted by the French Constitutional Council, who deemed it unconstitutional. The bill also provoked an angry reaction from Turkey who threatened “total rapture” with France. Newly elected...
The UN Security Council has placed sanctions on the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sanctions, imposed on New Years’ Eve, mean that those connected to the rebels will face travel bans and the freezing of their assets. Sanctions were also placed on Rwanda’s FDLR rebel movement. Rwanda and Uganda are accused of supporting the M23 rebels by the UN, but both governments have denied the allegations. Rwanda joined the UN Security Council on New Years’ day for a two year term.
An MI24 helicopter gunship allegedly firing rockets on Kachin rebels on the 28th December 2012. Photograph: Free Burma Rangers The Burmese government has admitted that they have carried out airstrikes and helicopter raids on Kachin rebels, as violence continues to escalate in the northern region. The Telegraph reported that, Burmese government negotiator and adviser to President, Hla Maung Shwe had said, "We heard the military used helicopters and training jets while trying to get their camp back," The statement comes as the BBC broadcast images they received from the aid group free Burma...
Iran has slammed a new US law, intended to curb Iran's influence in Latin America. President Obama signed the "Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act" last week, which gave the US State Department 180 days to develop a plan to "address Iran's growing hostile presence and activity". Iran's spokesperson for the foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told reporters that the US "still lives in the Cold War era and considers Latin America as its back yard". "It is an overt intervention in Latin American affairs... that shows they are not familiar with new world relations," he said. "We...
Five female teachers and two aid workers were killed on Tuesday by gunmen on motorcycles in Swabi, Pakistan. The victims had been working with an NGO, Support With Working Solution, on polio immunisation campaigns. Although no group has claimed responsibility for the shootings director of the NGO, Javed Akhtar, suspected that the attack was a part of a spree targeting anti-polio efforts in Pakistan. Previously militant groups have accused health workers of spying for the USA and alleged that the polio vaccine is intended to sterilise Muslim children. See here for full Associated Press report.
The Colombian military has announced that 13 Farc rebels have been killed in an air strike. Air force officials said they had hit a camp in the northwest of the country on New Years’ Eve and has found 13 bodies. The government did not reciprocate a unilateral truce called by the rebels last year and has continued attacks, while peace talks are continuing in Cuba.