Serbia President Tomislav Nikolic has once again denied that genocide took place in Srebrenica in comments made to an Italian newspaper.

Nikolic told Corriere della Sera,

Writing in The Times newspaper, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague, asserted that "rape is a weapon of war" and "Britain will lead a global effort to end the culture of impunity that surrounds this monstrous crime."

See here for full article.

Extracts reproduced below:

From Bosnia to the Democratic Republic of Congo we have seen rape used as a terrifying weapon of war. Inflicted systematically and sometimes to order from the highest levels, it is as much a means of waging war as are bullets or tanks. And more often than not it is carried out not by invading armies but by one group against another: deliberately to destroy, degrade, humiliate and scar political opponents or entire ethnic and religious groups.

The number of victims involved is utterly chilling. In Rwanda alone, up to 400,000 women are estimated to have been raped in the 100-day genocide of 1994. The vast majority of victims are women and children, but men are often targeted too.
Guilt lies with those who commit these crimes, but the shame falls on the whole world. For we have failed to act in a concerted way against this problem and have allowed a culture of impunity to develop. The shocking truth is that very few perpetrators have ever been put on trial for rape in conflict and even fewer have gone to prison. In wartime Bosnia, up to 50,000 women were raped, but only 30 men have ever been convicted. Given this record, the government forces and militia committing rape in Syria today probably expect they will simply get away with it.

As a man I feel appalled by this, and as Foreign Secretary I believe that it is within our power to do something about it. Moreover, I am convinced that this is a cause that Britain must champion. Ours is one of the few countries in the world with the global reach, resources and diplomatic network to be able to set a lead and so it is our responsibility to do so.

I believe that the time has come for a concerted international effort to challenge the use of rape as a weapon of war and to shatter the culture of impunity.

The Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have signed a peace plan they agreed earlier this month.

The European Union reinstated its sanctions against individuals and companies linked to the Belarus government for another year, due to Belarus’ failure to improve its human rights record.

The Council of the European Union called on the Belarusian authorities to mend their ways, stating,

“The Council again calls upon the Belarusian authorities to stop the harassment of civil society, the political opposition and the independent media.”

The British Ministry of Defence has stated that 5 Royal Marines have been charged with murder, over an incident that occurred in Afghanistan in 2011.

The 5 are part of a group of 9 that were initially arrested, with 4 later released. The arrests occurred after a video was found showing the Marines discussing whether to give medical aid to an injured Taliban fighter.

The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the British Prime Minister David Cameron signed the agreement for a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 - 'The Edinburgh agreement'.

The referendum will be a simple yes/no vote, despite Salmond's push to have a third option of "devo max", however, as Salmond had campaigned for, the vote will be extended to 16 and 17 year olds.

The Colombian government has apologised to the country’s indigenous communities for the devastation caused by the Amazon rubber boom around a hundred years ago.

Civil groups say up to 100,000 people were killed when a Peruvian company, backed by the Colombian government, caused devastation while harvesting rubber from 1912 to 1929.

The crimes committed include slavery, torture, extra judicial killings and torture.

The Ministry of Defence has said it will investigate claims by the Sunday Times that arms firms call on retired senior military officers to lobby the government for multi-million pound arms deals.

The investigation by the paper saw a fictitious lobbying company contact the “generals for hire”, and secretly filmed them as they boasted about their ability to influence senior figures inside the government, including the prime minister.

New evidence has surfaced that indicates that the Syrian air force has used cluster bombs, reported Human Rights Watch.

Videos posted online by Syrian activists displayed the remnants of cluster munitions.

The Human Rights Watch arms director, Steve Goose, condemned Syria’s actions, proclaiming,

“Syria’s disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign  which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas.”