• ICC Darfur inquiry suspended, Bashir hails 'victory'

    Dec 12
    The International Criminal Court's inquiry into alleged war crimes in Darfur was suspended on Friday by the Court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who blamed the UN Security Council for a lack of action.

    Stating that the Council's inaction would only "embolden perpetrators to continue their brutality”, Bensouda added: “I am left with no choice but to hibernate investigative activities in Darfur as I shift resources to other urgent cases."

    The suspension has been hailed by the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir was a "victory" over the ICC.

    The decision came about "because of the Sudanese people's refusal to be humiliated and to kneel down", Sudan's state news agency SUNA reported Bashir as saying on Saturday. 

  • Hundreds' of UK troops to be sent to Iraq next month
    Britain's Defence Secretary announced that hundreds of UK troops will be sent to Iraq next month, as part of the fight against Islamic State (IS) in the region.

    In an interview with the Telegraph, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the troops would be there to train Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but added that there would also be a combat-ready contingent.

    “We have not finalised numbers yet - obviously we have got a lot of kit back from Afghanistan that we can make available - but we are talking very low hundreds,” said Fallon.

    The soldiers "will not be expected to fight a war but will be there to defend the British personnel if necessary", he added.

    There are currently 50 British troops in Iraq training local forces, with a specialist team training Kurdish peshmerga how to use UK-supplied machine guns.
  • Russia warns of retaliation to further US sanctions
    Russia will take responsive action if the US imposes new sanctions said Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Saturday.

    “We will not be able to leave that without an answer,” said Sergei Ryabkov
  • US seeks to defuse Israel-Palestine tensions
    The US was seeking to defuse Israel-Palestine tensions the US secretary of state said on Friday.

    John Kerry said he would be meeting the Israeli prime minister and senior European officials in Rome on Monday to discuss possible resolutions to help de-escalate heightening tensions between Israel and Palestine.
  • EU bans jet fuel exports to Syria
    The European Union agreed to ban the export of jet fuel to Syria from Sunday, reports Reuters.

    EU ministers, initially agreed to ban jet fuel exports to Syria in October, and finalised the decision on Friday.

    Commenting on the EU decision, the British Middle East Minister, Tobias Ellwood, said,
  • China offered to help combat Islamic State militants says Iraqi foreign minister
    China offered to help Iraq combat Islamic State militants, Iraq’s foreign minister, Ibrahim Jafari, told the Financial Times.

    Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, offered to assist defeat the Islamic state when he met Jafari in New York at the United Nations anti-terrorism meeting in September, reports the paper.

    Jafari noted that Chinese involvement would be independent from the US-led coalition, Jafari told the paper.

    “I welcomed this initiative. I told him we are ready to deal with the coalition and also co-operate with countries outside this coalition,” said Jafari.
  • Abbott vows to 'sweat blood' for indigenous referendum
    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has vowed to hold a referendum on the constitutional recognition of the country's indigenous people as the nation's first people in 2017, stating he would “sweat blood” to ensure it takes place.

    Australia's constitution does not currently recognise Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders as the nation's first people. In 1967 a referendum held on constitutional changes relating to the indigenous population passed with 90% support.

    Speaking in Sydney, Abbott said,
    "The country we created has an Aboriginal heritage, a British foundation and a multicultural character and it's high time that this reality was reflected in our constitution."
    He went on to suggest that 50 years from the1967 referendum “would be a richly symbolic time to complete our constitution."
  • Kenya passes controversial anti-terror bill
    Kenya's parliament has passed a controversial new bill which will give the government a range of powers to tackle security issues and terrorism on Thursday.
  • Brazilian president fights back tears as report on torture and killings released
    Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff wept as she released the findings of the country's national truth commission which stated torture, killings and forced disappearances were rife under military rule.

    The report said it was “systematic practice” for such human rights abuses to occur under Brazil's military rule from 1964 to 1985. “Under the military dictatorship, repression and the elimination of political opposition became the policy of the state, conceived and implemented based on decisions by the president of the republic and military ministers,” the report states. The commission went on to add it “totally rejects the explanation offered up until today that the serious violations of human rights constituted a few isolated acts or excesses resulting from the zeal of a few soldiers”.

    The United States and United Kingdom are also named in the truth commission report as to having been at fault for training Brazilian troops on interrogation techniques, which ultimately led to the torture of suspects.

    Rousseff, a former Marxist guerilla, experienced this first hand. She was detained by the security forces for three years, reportedly beaten and given electric shocks. She fought back tears as she unveiled the report's findings and received a standing ovation.

    “Brazil deserves the truth,” she said. “The new generations deserve the truth. And most of all, those who deserve the truth are those who lost family members, friends, companions and continue to suffer as if they died again each and every day.”
  • US to increase pressure to stop human rights abuses in North Korea
    US human rights officials warned North Korea that there would be escalating pressure on the country to end human rights abuses, reports Reuters.
  • Burmese court detains 3 men for posting online flyer depicting Buddha
    Three men were arrested in Burma after Buddhist monks complained about an online flyer that used a picture of the Buddha, reports WorldBulletin.

    Following complaints by a group of Buddhist monks known as the Ma Ba Tha, one New Zealander and two Burmese locals were placed in prison after being charged under a law that forbids insulting religion.
  • Thousands gather at Palestinian minister's funeral
    Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the funeral of a Palestinian government minister, who died shortly after an Israeli policeman grabbed him by the throat at a protest in the West Bank.

    Ziad Avu Ein’s funeral was held on Thursday in Ramallah, with thousands attending a procession from the Palestinian presidential headquarter to a nearby cemetery.
  • Journalists killed in Syrian guided missile attack
    At least 4 journalists have been killed whilst covering the conflict in Syria this week, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

    A missile attack on Wednesday killed three journalists from the Syrian opposition TV channel Orient News, hitting their vehicle in the Deraa province.

    Orient News reported that the vehicle had driven past government troops in  the village of Qarfa, moments before the missile struck. It added that the missile appears to have been launched from the village.

    CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Co-ordinator Sherif Mansour said,

    "So many Syrian journalists have paid the ultimate price for reporting on this conflict, but even for Syria, the loss of three journalists in one attack is devastating."
  • ICC calls for Simone Gbagbo to face trial
    The International Criminal Court (ICC) called for Simone Gbagbo, the wife of the former president of the Ivory Coast, to be handed over to The Hague to face trial, reports Deutsche Welle.

    Local authorities in the Ivory Coast, have refused to hand over Simone Gbagbo, saying that she will be tried on charges of genocide in a domestic court.
  • Calls for prosecution of US officials after CIA torture report
    The United Nations, international human rights organisations and legal experts called for the prosecution of US officials responsible for torture following the release of a Senate Intelligence Committee report on Tuesday, detailing the extensive use of torture by the CIA at detention facilities.   

    The report, which avoids the use of the word torture and instead uses the terms "enhanced interrogation techniques" and "rendition, detention and interrogation program", brings to light a number of torture techniques employed by the CIA, including: rectal feeding and rehydration, immersion in cold water, confinement in a box, water boarding, sleep deprivation, auditory overload, beatings and threats.

    The report cited at least three examples where severe violence, sexual assault and even death, was threatened against the families of detainees. On detainee was told his mother would be sexually abused in front of him, whilst another was told his mother's throat would be cut.

    See more here.


    Calls for Accountability

    Leading calls for accountability and justice, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, emphasised the need for prosecution of decision making US officials.

    "The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorised at a high level within the US government provides no excuse whatsoever," Emmerson said, in a statement on Tuesday.

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