The appointment of a civilian judge to investigate the responsibility of three prominent former Egyptian generals for the abuse of protesters is an opportunity for President Morsi to push for accountability for abuses committed under military rule, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.

According to HRW, military courts which have sole jurisdiction over any acts committed by military personnel have failed time and again to properly investigate military abuses against protesters. Only two cases were referred for trial, in which prosecutors did not examine senior responsibility in giving orders to commit abuses or failing to prevent crimes by subordinates.

Deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, Joe Stork, said:

“Over the past year and a half, the military has been getting away with murder, torture, and sexual assault, because military investigators were unwilling to seriously investigate their own,”

“If backed by full support from the political authorities, this civilian investigation could become the first serious step toward reversing the impunity the military has enjoyed so far.”

“A shift toward a human-rights-respecting culture can only occur in Egypt if it is based on accountability for the most serious abuses of the past year,”

“Giving the civilian justice system jurisdiction over military abuses committed against civilians is the first step in that direction.”

See here for full HRW press release.

"Every single fate in this genocide is a suffering beyond understanding. Every single fate fills me with sorrow and shame,"

"It is not only the responsibility of educational institutions, as important as they are, but it's our responsibility, it's the responsibility of each and every one of us, because in indifference, in a culture of 'it's not my business'... this is where the seed of contempt for human values starts growing."

A Russian military official has claimed that weapons from the US have ended up in the hands of Syrian rebels.

Gen Nikolai Makarov said to the Interfax news agency that the origin of surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles, including US-made Stingers, should be “cleared up”.

"We have reliable information that Syrian militants have foreign portable anti-aircraft missile systems, including those made in the USA... it should be cleared up who delivered them," Gen Makarov told reporters.

Russia is the largest supplier of arms to the Syrian regime.

In other developments, UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced that the Syrian government and opposition groups will observe a ceasefire to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

"After the visit I made to Damascus, there is agreement from the Syrian government for a ceasefire during the Eid," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"Other factions in Syria that we were able to contact - heads of fighting groups - most of them also agree on the principle of the ceasefire."

The African Union lifted the suspension against Mali on Wednesday, following a decision for intervention, in order to regain ground from Islamist militants.

Pledging that proposals for the intervention would be ready by within weeks, the AU outlined a political road map for the country, which saw elections being held as early as April next year.

The chair of the AU Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said:

"We are working ... to finalise the joint planning for the early deployment of an African-led international military force to help Mali recover the occupied territories in the North."

"At the same time, we will leave the door of dialogue open to those Malian rebel groups willing to negotiate,"

The foreign minister of Mali, Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, said he was "happy and satisfied" with the lifting of the suspension.

The Congolese government described Rwanda’s seat at the UN Security Council as an act that condoned the violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo provinces.

The Congolese government spokesperson Lambert Mende, said on Tuesday,

“The decision is a very bad signal because it trivialises the horrific situation created by this country in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it continues to disrupt peace and security.”

Rwanda was elected into the 15-member Security Council, as a non permanent member, last week, despite a recent UN report that accused Rwanda of supporting the human rights violating rebellion movement, the Congolese Revolutionary Army (ARC).

Libya's new authorities announced the capture of Bani Walid, the former stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi, on Wednesday.

The authorities state that all military operations have now ceased, and the troops will now be providing security and aid.

The announcement came after fighting that has forced hundreds of to flee into neigbouring towns.

However, according to the BBC, some of its correspondents have said that 'pockets of resistance' continue.

Russia has condemned the US for its human rights record and accused it of double standards.

At a presentation by the foreign ministry’s human rights envoy, the ministry criticised the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay and the use of the death penalty by the US.

The presentation also claimed that the US only took up human rights issues in order to interfere in the affairs of sovereign states.

"The U.S. claim on the role of absolute leader in the sphere of human rights is unsustainable and is not confirmed by practical realities," Itar-Tass quoted the envoy, Konstantin Dolgov, as saying to the Duma.

"(Russian authorities) must defend against policies being carried out by the United States directed at using the concept of rights as an instrument of pressure and as a basis for intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign governments."

The US Congress is currently considering a law which could see action taken against Russia, for human rights abuses.

The head of UN peacekeeping has stated that they are preparing for the event of a ceasefire in Syria, after the UN and Arab League’s international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi’s visit to the country.

The head of UN peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, stated that,

"I would confirm that, of course, we are giving a lot of thought to what would happen if and when a political solution or at least a ceasefire would emerge”

"There are a number of hypotheses, but I think at this stage one can only say that it certainly would be premature to mention a figure because it would depend on the situation (and) on the tasks".

His comments came after Brahimi revealed that he was hoping both sides would agree to a ceasefire during the Muslim festival of  Eid al-Adha which begins on Friday.

However, the implementation of a ceasefire looks to be distant, with the Arab League describing the hopes of a truce as “slim”.

Abdulbaset Sieda, head of the opposition Syrian National Council, stated that whilst rebels would be willing to observe a ceasefire, he doubted that the Syrian government would noting that the UN does not have any "any mechanism to observe the situation".

In April a UN observer mission was sent to Syria, but was unable to halt the violence, facing obstacles to free observation and was even fired on. After suspending patrols in June, the UN Security Council decided not to extend their mandate.

"All the opposition members we met outside the country as well as the officials in the neighbouring countries said that it is a good idea,"

"If we achieve this ceasefire during the al-Adha holiday and maintain it, we can try and build on it. If it does not happen, then we will keep trying and we hope we can find another way to bring relief to the Syrian people.”

The British High Commissioner to India, James Bevan, has met with Gujarat’s chief minister, Narendra Modi, ending a 10-year boycott of the controversial minister.

Modi was accused of complicity in riots that killed over 1,000 Muslims in 2002, with several Western governments suspending ties with him.

The UK has now changed this policy and said its interests are better served by engagement.

Britain has one of the largest expatriate Gujarati populations and several British companies are investing in the north-western state, wihch is one of the economically more successful states of India.

Human rights groups and the relatives of three British citizens, who were killed by the Hindu mobs, have criticised the renewed engagement.

Protests have left at least 20 people injured in the Kosovan capital of Pristina, after protestors demonstrated against Kosovan talks with Serbia, launched last week.

Tear gas was fired by police at the rally, organised by Kosovo's Self-Determination party, whilst protestors chanted, Shame!" and "No bargain with Serbia!", outside Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’s office.

He met with his Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic last week as the two countries look to improve relations.

At Dacic’s swearing in as Serbian Prime Minister he announced that he would refuse to recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, but would respect European Union brokered agreements with the country, as Serbia attempts to gain membership into the EU.

See our earlier post: Former Milosevic aide sworn in as Serbian Prime Minister (27 July 2012)

Shpend Ahmeti, deputy leader of the Self Determination party said,

"This was a shameful meeting (in Brussels)... After all the crimes in Kosovo, no one has taken responsibility or apologised."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) have accused Yemeni state security forces of threatening health care in the southern port city of Aden by forcibly removing wounded patients, allegedly militants, from hospitals.

Exchanges of gunfire and beating of medical staff has resulted in one hospital in Aden suspending operations.

While state security forces claim that the patients they have sought to arrest are suspects of serious crimes, sources have linked most of the patients to Herak, a coalition of groups seeking increased autonomy or independence for former South Yemen.

It is reported that the violence is further fuelled by supporters and protectors of the alleged militants who engage in gunfire exchanges with state security forces on hospital premises.

Senior Yemen researcher at HRW, Letta Tayler, said:

“Gunfights in hospitals put patients and medical workers at grave risk and threaten to shut down health care in Aden. Both security forces and their opponents are showing callous indifference to human life.”

See here for full HRW press release