Bosnian police arrested six former Bosnian Serb soldiers under suspicion of being involved in the killings of 27 Muslim Bosnians during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

The arrested men allegedly separated 27 men from their families, tortured them and made them dig their own mass grave before killing and burying them. Following the end of the war, the suspects are thought to have uncovered the remains they could find and dispose of them into the river to avoid being caught in the future.

The former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has become the highest level political leader to be sentenced by the International Criminal Court, after he was jailed for 18 years for committing crimes against humanity.

Jean-Pierre Bemba was found guilty in March of five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a landmark ruling that marked the first time the court had found rape as a crime against humanity and that held commanders responsible for the actions of their troops.

Judge Sylvia Steiner said Mr Bemba’s troops had carried out "sadistic" crimes of "particular cruelty". Prosecutors had called for a minimum 25 year sentence.

ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told AFP,

“I believe this is a very important day for international criminal justice, especially when it comes to sexual and gender-based crimes.”

The sentencing was hailed by the ICC, with spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah saying the ruling shows "justice may take time but ends by being done".

Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights Watch said the sentence offered "a measure of justice" for the victims.

"Other commanders should take notice that they, too, can be held accountable for rapes and other serious abuses committed by troops under their control," she said.

A newly released United Nations report on Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic groups in Myanmar found that they may have been subject to crimes against humanity.

The report, released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday found that the Rohingya are suffering from “arbitrary deprivation of nationality, severe restrictions on freedom of movement, threats to life and security, denial of rights to health and education, forced labour, sexual violence, and limitations to their political rights”.

Following a spate of anti-Rohingya violence in 2012 in the Rakhine State, some 120,000 Rohingya and Kaman Muslims remain displaced living in camps for internally displaced people. The report also highlighted abuses faced by other ethnic groups, some of whom were in armed conflict with the government.

“There has also been an alarming increase in incitement to hatred and religious intolerance by ultra-nationalist Buddhist organisations,” the report added, with a press release noting that the “pattern of violations against the Rohingya may amount to crimes against humanity”.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah as government troops and militias continue their offensive against Islamic State fighters, sparking warnings of a humanitarian crisis from aid agencies.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, stated that more than 80,000 people have fled the city since the government offensive began more than 4 weeks ago.

"Agencies are scrambling to respond to the rapidly evolving situation and we are bracing ourselves for another large exodus in the next few days as we estimate that thousands more people remain trapped in Fallujah," said the UNHCR.

Karl Schembri of the Norwegian Refugee Council told Al Jazeera that in the last three days alone, some 30,000 people have fled the city. "This comes after months of besiegement," he added.

Syrian Kurdish parties have pressed ahead with plans to set up an autonomous federal system of government in the northern Syria, as US backed militants continue to regain territory from the Islamic State.