• ICC opens investigation into Myanmar’s atrocities against Rohingya

    The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it has opened a “full-fledged preliminary examination” into crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military this week.

    Thousands of Rohingya have been killed and over 700,000 displaced, with a United Nations report calling for senior Burmese military figures to be investigated for genocide.

  • Burundi threatens to withdraw from UNHRC over allegations of crimes against humanity

    Burundi has threatened to withdraw from the UN human rights council after a commission of inquiry on the country presented its findings, which include allegations of possible crimes against humanity committed by the government.

    The state has refused to cooperate with the commission and last week declared the three commissioners to be personae non-gratae.

  • ICC needed when state is unwilling to deliver justice - UN human rights chief

    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet said the International Criminal Court was needed when a state is “unwilling or unable to deliver justice” as she spoke on the punishment and prevention of genocide in Geneva this week.

    Addressing a high level panel at the 39th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, Bachelet said that “ending impunity is central to ending genocide”.

  • Four killed in Saudi-led air strike on Yemeni radio station

    Four people were killed in a Saudi-led air strike on a radio station in the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah in Yemen.

    Four employees of the Almaraweah radio station were killed, reports Reuters, three of them guards.

    The attack exerts further pressure on the international community as UN officials scramble to arrange a resumption of peace talks for the four-year-old conflict.

  • China denies mistreating Uighur Muslims

    Chinese officials have rejected claims of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, after growing international outcry and instead claimed they are offering 'education' to counter religious extremism.

  • New UN human rights chief urges Myanmar international inquiry

    The new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet on Monday urged an international mechanism to collect evidence of crimes committed by the Myanmar army against the Rohingya population in order to pursue prosecutions. 

    “This mechanism would also complement and support the preliminary examination of the ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor," she said."

  • France arrests Liberian man for crimes against humanity

    French police have arrested a Liberian man accused of committing crimes against humanity, whilst being a commander in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) in the 1990’s.

    The man, identified as Kunti K, is a naturalised Dutch citizen. He is accused of torture, murder, slavery, the use of child soldiers and cannibalism between 1993 and 1997.

    He was arrested in the northeast Paris suburb of Bobigny on Tuesday.

  • India decriminalises homosexuality

    India's Supreme Court today decriminalised homosexuality in a land mark ruling by a constitution bench of five judges. 

    The Court unanimously decided to overturn the 158 year old law which criminalised consensual 'unnatural' sex, arguing that the colonial era law violated the right to equality. 

    "Any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates fundamental rights," the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said. 

  • Germany returns skulls of Namibian genocide victims but offers no official apology

    The German government handed back the remains of indigenous Namibians that were killed more than 100 years ago, but refused to issue an official apology for the genocide.

  • Reuters journalists sentenced to 7 years imprisonment in Myanmar

    Two Reuters journalists who were arrested and detained for over 200 days whilst investigating ongoing massacres of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been sentenced to seven years in prison.

    In a landmark case that has evoked international condemnation, the Myanmar judge said his verdict is based on documents found on mobile phones of the reporters, that “can be useful to enemies of the country or the ones who oppose the country”.

  • 30 Nigerian soldiers killed in suspected Islamic State attack

    Upto 30 Nigerian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military base in Zari, Borno state on Thursday. 

    The attack is believed to have been carried out by suspected Islamic State members. 

    “The battle lasted for about two hours and our colleagues fought them but things became bad before the fighter jets arrived. We lost about 30 of our soldiers and about 10 were wounded,” a military source, who did not want to be named, told Reuters

  • Saudi-led coalition promises accountability for 'unjustified' airstrike in Yemen

    The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday said an air strike over Yemen last month which killed dozens of people was "unjustified" and pledged to bring hold anyone found to have made mistakes to account. 

    “The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition expresses regret over the mistakes, extends its sympathies, condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims,” a statement published by the Saudi state news agency SPA said, Reuters reports. 

    The coalition also promised to provide compensation for the victims in conjunction with the Yemeni government 

  • Nicaragua orders UN human rights delegation to leave

    The Nicaraguan government has instructed a United Nations human rights delegation to leave following the publication of a report condemning rights violations and repression by the president, Daniel Ortega's regime. 

  • Myanmar rejects UN report on Rohingya genocide as 'false'

    Myanmar's government today rejected a report released by the United Nations which calls for an investigation into the genocide of the Rohingya people by Myanmese troops as "false". 

    "We didn't allow the FFM (the UN Fact-Finding Mission) to enter into Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council," a senior government spokesperson, Zaw Htay was quoted by the state run Global New Light of Myanmar as saying. 

  • UN report accuses Myanmar of committing genocide against Rohingya

    A United Nations report has called for senior figures in Myanmar’s military to face trial for genocide committed against the Rohingya population.

    The UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar was set up in March 2017 and headed by Marzuki Darusman who also co-authored the 2011 report produced by a panel of experts on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka.

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