• UK cuts aid to Ethiopia as human rights concerns increase

    Nov 02

    The British government has axed most of its aid programme to the Ethiopian police force, amidst increasing evidence of torture, rape and murder by the government, reported The Telegraph.

    The decision comes soon after a report by Amnesty International which said that thousands of ethnic Oromos were being “ruthlessly targeted by the state”.

    'Because I am Oromo' - Amnesty International report

    British ministers decided to suspend most of the £27mn scheme, which was intended to help Ethiopian police “interact with communities on local safety”, help women access the justice system and improve criminal investigations.

    Over £1bn in aid, including around £70 million for “governance and security” projects has already been given to the Ethiopian government over the past three years.

    The Department for International Development said the project was cancelled because it did not represent “value for money” and because of “risk” in getting it delivered on time and insisted that suspension of the aid was entirely unrelated to the allegations of human rights abuses, saying its decision pre-dated the Amnesty International report.

  • Reports of Peshmerga war crimes, KRG rejects allegations
    The Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been accused of committing war crimes by a Dutch TV program, Nieuwsuur, which aired a news report last week where it reported Kurdish forces were executing captured Islamic State fighters.

    The program showed what it claimed was an interview of the head of a Kurdish voluntary unit, Serdar Dosky.
  • Israel closes cargo and pedestrian borders into Gaza
    Israel closed its crossing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to a rocket attack from Gaza.

    The pedestrian and cargo entrances to Gaza were shut in response to a rocket fired into Israel that caused no damage on Friday, said a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Ministry.
  • UK Supreme Court to rule on extradition of genocide suspects
    The Supreme Court will decide this week on whether five men accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide will be extradited from Britain, to face charges in Rwanda.

    The suspects were all arrested in May 2013, after having lived in the United Kingdom for more than a decade.
  • Islamist party leader sentenced to death for war crimes in Bangladesh
    A senior leader of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party has been sentenced to death by a special tribunal investigating charges of war crimes during the country's 1971 war of independence.

    Mir Quasem Ali from Jamaat-e-Islami faced 14 charges in Chittagong including letting loose a "reign of terror". He was found guilty of 8 of the charges.

    State prosecutor Ziad Al Mamun told reporters that "justice has been served" adding that the sentencing would break down the "culture of impunity" in the country.

    However Ali's defence lawyer Mizanur Rahman said "we didn't get proper judgement."
  • Argentina requests arrest of Spanish Franco-era officials
    A judge in Argentina has requested the arrest and extradition of 20 former officials suspected of carrying out human rights abuses during the dictatorship of General Franco.

    The officials are accused of being complicit in the torture of dissidents during the Spanish dictator's rule from 1939 to 1975. Former cabinet ministers José Utrera Molina, 88, and Rodolfo Martín Villa, 80 are amongst the accused.

    Federal judge Maria Servini de Cubria requested the extraditions under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which can see judges try suspects of serious human rights abuses from foreign countries.

    The families of the victims requested Argentina help try the officials, as an 1977 amnesty law passed in Spain blocks any legal action against the former officials.
  • Pro-Russian separatists hold elections in Eastern Ukraine
    Pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk held elections on Sunday, to directly elect presidents and parliaments.

    The elections have been slammed as illegitimate by the EU, Nato and the US who have vowed not to recognise the results. "We deplore the intent of separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine to hold illegitimate so-called local 'elections' on Sunday," said the White House in a statement on Friday.

    Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, referred to the elections as “the pseudo-elections that terrorists and bandits want to organise on occupied territory”.

    However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed the elections, stating that a ceasefire agreed in September allowed for elections that were "in co-ordination with, not in line with" Ukrainian plans.
  • Burkina Faso sees third leader in 24 hours
    A second military officer has assumed power in Burkina Faso, after the former president resigned on Friday amidst mass protests.

    Colonel Isaac Zida, who is the third person to claim leadership of the country within 24 hours, called on the international community to recognise his authority.

    Speaking to crowds in the capital city Ouagadougou, Zida said that the military had taken control to “prevent a state of anarchy that would be detrimental to the goal of democratic change.”

    “I will assume the duties of head of this transition and head of state to guarantee the continuity of the state,” he added.

  • Boko Haram denies negotiations to release abducted school girls
    The leader of the Nigerian militant Boko Haram, claimed that deals to free the 200 kidnapped school girls were untrue, reports the Telegraph.
  • Islamic State militants execute 85 Albu Nimr tribe members
    Islamic State militants executed a further 85 members of the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq on Saturday, reports Reuters.

    The tribal chief said that 50 members of the tribe had been killed with a further 35 bodies found in a mass grave.

    Sheikh Naeem al-Ga’oud said that requests to the Iraqi central government for arms to had been repeatedly ignored.
  • Militants committing war crimes in Libya says Amnesty International
    All sides in Libya’s most recent conflict have committed serious rights abuses, some of which amount to war crimes, found Amnesty International’s latest report.

    The report, “Rule of the gun: Abductions, torture and other abuses in western Libya,” found that armed groups had summarily killed, tortured or ill-treated detainees in their custody whilst targeting civilians based on their origins or perceived political allegiances.

    “Leaders of militias and armed groups in Libya have a duty to put an end to violations of international humanitarian law and to make clear to their subordinates that such crimes will not be tolerated. A failure to do so could result in prosecution of commanders by the International Criminal Court,” said the Amnesty press release.

  • Burkina Faso president resigns amid protests
    The President of Burkina Faso resigned on Friday after days of unrest that saw protesters set fire to the parliament building, reports the New York Times.

    Campaore announced his resignation, after the military announced that they had decided to take the side of the protestors.

    The recent protests against Campaore came after the former president tried to change legislation that would allow him to extend his term in power.

    Blaise Campaore initially seized power of Burkina Faso in 1987 in a coup that saw the former president killed under suspicious circumstances.

  • Sweden formally recognises Palestine
    Sweden formally recognised the state of Palestine on Thursday, becoming the first European Union member to do so, reports AFP.

    The decision, which came ahead of schedule, has been criticised by Israel.

    “Some will claim that today’s decision comes too early. I’m rather afraid it’s too late,” Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom wrote in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

    “The past year, we’ve seen how the peace negotiations once again have halted, how decisions on new settlements on occupied Palestinian land have obstructed a two-state solution and how violence has returned to Gaza.”

  • Realisation of right to self-determination vital for international peace says UN expert
    The realisation of the right to self-determination is fundamental in maintaining local, regional and international peace and must be seen as an important conflict prevention strategy, said the United Nations independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.

    Presenting his third report the UN General Assembly on Monday, Alfred de Zayas, said,
    “Over the past decades too many conflicts have started because of the denial of the legitimate aspiration of peoples to achieve their human rights, including the right to internal or external self-determination.”
    The UN expert called for a strategy to ensure that a recurring questions regarding self-determination were addressed and that a proactive role was taken by the UN to mediate existing and potential crises associated with self-determination, reports Panarmenian.net.

  • UN, UK and US express concern at Israeli settlement plans in Palestine
    Israel’s planned settlements violated international law and would raise “grave concerns” regarding its commitment towards a durable peace with the Palestinians said a senior UN political chief, reports the BBC.

    Britain said that the settlement activity made it harder for Israel’s friends to defend it against accusations that questioned Israel’s commitment to peace.
Subscribe to International Affairs

Most-Read Articles

British Tamil engineer takes F1 podium spotlight after Mercedes win
British Tamil engineer Arun Rajkumar became an unexpected face of Mercedes’ Austrian…
Sri Lanka attends Khamenei funeral as Iran's allies gather to mourn
Sri Lanka has sent Deputy Speaker Dr. Rizvie Salih to Tehran to represent Colombo at the…
Vijay looks back on Eelam solidarity, but not forward
The Tamil Nadu chief minister, Vijay, made a brief reference to Eelam Tamils during a…
Sri Lanka revives infamous Israeli-made Kfir warplanes
The Sri Lanka Air Force has carried out the first test flight of its upgraded Israeli-…
Transitional justice cannot exist without truth
Illustration by Sagi Thileepkumar. "It happened; therefore, it can happen again…it…