European Union (EU) announced its most rigorous sanctions yet against Iran in an attempt to pressurise Tehran into negotiations over its nuclear program. Sanctions will target the financial sector, energy and shipping while imposing tighter measures on Central Bank of Iran. European Union will further restrict the exportation of graphite, metals and shipbuilding materials as well as importing gas to Europe.

EU statement said, “The Iranian regime itself can act responsibly and bring these sanctions to an end. As long as it does not do so, the (EU) remains determined to increase, in close coordination with international partners, pressure on Iran in the context of the dual-track approach.”

At the same time, the British Prime Minister David Cameron called on Israel to be patient.

See: Cameron urges for patience on nuclear issue (16 Oct 2012)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) have criticised an armed police raid on the offices of a prominent defence lawyer in the Bangladeshi war crimes trials, calling the raid ‘a grave affront to the basic tenets of fair trials.’

Asia Director at HRW, Brad Adams said:

“A raid by armed intelligence officers on the offices of defence lawyers without a warrant and for no discernible reason marks a very dangerous turn in an already flawed process,”

“The Bangladeshi government needs to publicly condemn this action or risk the appearance of being responsible for this egregious violation of fair trial standards.”

“It is only when both sides are treated as equals, and when codes and laws of professional conduct are strictly adhered to, that victims of atrocities and the wider public can be confident that the justice they have sought for so long is based on a legitimate trial process.”

Trials are currently taking place in Bangladesh against those accused of war crimes in the 1971 War of Liberation.

See here for full HRW Press release.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the international community to show “courage” and allow the sanctions, which have been imposed on Iran, to take effect.

Speaking at a United Jewish Israel Appeal in London he said that this was not the time for Israel to take military action against Iran.

"I have said to Prime Minister Netanyahu that now is not the time for Israel to resort to military action.

"Beyond the unpredictable dangers inherent in any conflict, the other reason is this: at the very moment when the regime faces unprecedented pressure and the people are on the streets; and when Iran's only real ally in Syria is losing his grip on power, a foreign military strike is exactly the chance the regime would look for to unite his people against a foreign enemy.

"We shouldn't give them that chance. We need the courage to give these sanctions time to work."

Mr Cameron said that the “relentless” sanctions are starting to have an impact on Tehran.

He pointed out that as well as slowing the nuclear programme, Iran’s oil exports have dropped by 45% and inflation has soared.

"Most significantly, there are signs that the Iranian people are beginning to question the regime's strategy with even pro-regime groups protesting at the actions of the government.

"It's mind boggling that the leaders of a nation so rich in oil have succeeded in turning their country into a banana republic desperately trying to put rockets into space while their people suffer.

"The Iranian regime is under unprecedented pressure and faces an acute dilemma. They are leading their people to global isolation and an economic collapse. And they know it."

But he stressed that all options are open if Iran makes the “wrong choice”.

"In the long term, if Iran makes the wrong choice, nothing is off the table. A nuclear armed Iran is a threat to Israel. And a threat to the world. And this country will work unwaveringly to prevent that from happening."

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic began his defence against charges of genocide at The Hague on Tuesday, telling the court that he should be rewarded for his actions during the Bosnian war.

In his statement he told the court,

"I should have been rewarded for all the good things that I've done because I did everything within human power to avoid the war and to reduce the human suffering,

"Neither I nor anyone else that I know thought that there would be a genocide against those who were not Serbs."

Dismissing the charges against him as "lies, propaganda and rumours", Karadzic continued to assert that no genocide took place in Srebrenica where over 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered.

He also claimed that he had stopped the Bosnian Serb army several times as they were close to victory in order to ensure the safety of civilians.

Karadzic also went on to deny charges that civilians were intentionally shelled, stating that footage from shell attacks, bringing up one attack on a street market in 1994, were faked.

He called it a 'shameless orchestration', stating,

"We also saw android mannequins being thrown onto trucks, creating this show for the world."

See the 10 charges against Karadzic, which include genocide and crimes against humanity, here.

Satellite imagery and a video from the mobile phone of a Sudanese soldier shows that the Sudanese armed forces are continuing to commit crimes against humanity in the Nuba mountains, according to activist group the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP).

The video shows a teenager being tied up in a truck by Sudanese security forces while a village erupts in flames in the background.

The SSP stated that the video shows Sudanese police, army and militia forces attacking the village of Gardud al Badry in South Kordofan.

John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, a partner in the SSP, stated,

"We are seeing a repeat of Darfur without the international witnesses,

"Capturing the burning, razing, and looting of Gardud al Badry on video and in satellite imagery adds to mounting, and undeniable, visual evidence of a pattern of indiscriminate attacks and destruction by the government of Sudan against its own people."

"Through this campaign of targeted violence, which amounts to crimes against humanity, and its denial of humanitarian access, the government of Sudan is displacing thousands of civilians and contributing to insecurity in the region."

The video shows the teenagers interrogators waving rifles in the air exclaiming,

"With this flame we extinguish the burning sedition in South Kordofan. By God, we will not give away an inch of our land.''

A follow up interview with the teenager, who was later released, is also included in the video where he states,

"While they were beating us they called us 'rebel' and when we told them we're not rebels they beat us and some of them kicked us."

Serbia President Tomislav Nikolic has once again denied that genocide took place in Srebrenica in comments made to an Italian newspaper.

Nikolic told Corriere della Sera,

"Genocide did not take place in Srebrenica... This is about individual guilt of members of the Serb people. The Serbian parliament condemned this crime, but did not say it was genocide. No Serb recognises that genocide took place in Srebrenica, and I am no different."

Predrag Simic, professor at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences commented on Nikolic's statement, saying that the majority of Serbs still do not believe that a genocide took place. He stated,

"A big portion of the western public believes that genocide happened in Srebrenica... Admitting into the European Union a country that has committed the most severe crime is unacceptable."

Writing in The Times newspaper, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague, asserted that "rape is a weapon of war" and "Britain will lead a global effort to end the culture of impunity that surrounds this monstrous crime."

See here for full article.

Extracts reproduced below:

From Bosnia to the Democratic Republic of Congo we have seen rape used as a terrifying weapon of war. Inflicted systematically and sometimes to order from the highest levels, it is as much a means of waging war as are bullets or tanks. And more often than not it is carried out not by invading armies but by one group against another: deliberately to destroy, degrade, humiliate and scar political opponents or entire ethnic and religious groups.

The number of victims involved is utterly chilling. In Rwanda alone, up to 400,000 women are estimated to have been raped in the 100-day genocide of 1994. The vast majority of victims are women and children, but men are often targeted too.
Guilt lies with those who commit these crimes, but the shame falls on the whole world. For we have failed to act in a concerted way against this problem and have allowed a culture of impunity to develop. The shocking truth is that very few perpetrators have ever been put on trial for rape in conflict and even fewer have gone to prison. In wartime Bosnia, up to 50,000 women were raped, but only 30 men have ever been convicted. Given this record, the government forces and militia committing rape in Syria today probably expect they will simply get away with it.

As a man I feel appalled by this, and as Foreign Secretary I believe that it is within our power to do something about it. Moreover, I am convinced that this is a cause that Britain must champion. Ours is one of the few countries in the world with the global reach, resources and diplomatic network to be able to set a lead and so it is our responsibility to do so.

I believe that the time has come for a concerted international effort to challenge the use of rape as a weapon of war and to shatter the culture of impunity.

So our Government has begun a major new initiative in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that I will lead. First, we are setting up a specialist team of experts that will be deployed to conflict areas to support efforts to prevent and investigate sexual violence in conflict. It will include police, lawyers, psychologists, doctors, forensic experts, experts in gender-based violence and in the care and protection of survivors and witnesses. It will support UN investigations and civil society organisations, and help other countries to develop their own capabilities. We have already recruited 65 members of the team, and their first pilot deployment will take place before the end of this year. We hope that by setting this example we can help to support successful prosecutions and encourage other countries to set up similar teams.

Second, we are significantly increasing our support to the UN. We are giving £1 million over the next three years to support the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence and urge other countries to do more too.
Third, when the UK takes on the presidency of the G8 in January, one of our objectives will be to secure new commitments from some of the world’s most powerful nations. We will urge G8 countries to enter into partnerships with conflict-affected nations. We will call for new financial commitments, and development assistance focused on legislative reforms, economic empowerment and support for survivors, which we hope to broaden beyond the G8 over time. And we are assessing if there is a need for a new international protocol on the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence in conflict and the protection of survivors.

I know that if the world can act more effectively against this problem we will not only prevent appalling injustices, but also help to break the cycle of instability and injustice in conflict-affected countries. That is our ambition and we are calling on governments, civil society and concerned citizens around the world to join us in making it a reality.

The Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have signed a peace plan they agreed earlier this month.

The deal was signed by representatives of both parties and witnessed bythe Philippine president, Benigno Aquino, and the leader of MILF, Murad Ebrahim.

The deal will see the establishment of an autonomous region in the Muslim-majority south of the country.

The agreement stipulates that the leaders of the new autonomous region, named Bangsamoro, would be given more political and economic powers and that law enforcement would gradually be transferred back to the police, after decades of army policing.

"The Parties recognize Bangsamoro identity." the peace plan further stated.

Those who at the time of conquest and colonization were considered natives or original inhabitants of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago and its adjacent islands including Palawan, and their descendants whether of mixed or of full blood shall have the right to identify themselves as Bangsamoro by ascription or self-ascription."

The European Union reinstated its sanctions against individuals and companies linked to the Belarus government for another year, due to Belarus’ failure to improve its human rights record.

The Council of the European Union called on the Belarusian authorities to mend their ways, stating,

“The Council again calls upon the Belarusian authorities to stop the harassment of civil society, the political opposition and the independent media.”

According to an EU official, recent elections conducted by the Belarusian president Lukashenko, were marred by the widespread harassment of critics, the use of prison sentences and various other offences.

The latest EU restrictions include visa bans and asset freezes on 243 individuals and 32 companies that are associated with Lukashenko’s government.

The British Ministry of Defence has stated that 5 Royal Marines have been charged with murder, over an incident that occurred in Afghanistan in 2011.

The 5 are part of a group of 9 that were initially arrested, with 4 later released. The arrests occurred after a video was found showing the Marines discussing whether to give medical aid to an injured Taliban fighter.

Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State for the Defence, declined to comment on the case but said,

 “Everybody serving in theatre knows the rules of engagement, they carry cards in their uniforms with the rules on them in case they should need to remind themselves.”

"We are very determined that rules of engagement will be followed, that any abuse will be dealt with through the normal processes of service justice and that is happening now.”

The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the British Prime Minister David Cameron signed the agreement for a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 - 'The Edinburgh agreement'.

The referendum will be a simple yes/no vote, despite Salmond's push to have a third option of "devo max", however, as Salmond had campaigned for, the vote will be extended to 16 and 17 year olds.

The agreement is a Section 30 Order must be agreed by the governments of Holyrood and Westminister. After being approved the Scottish government will instigate legislation for the vote, which must take place before the end of 2014.

Speaking at the weekend Salmond said,

“We are not in the business of ripping things up,”

“We are in the business of developing a new relationship between the people of these islands that is more beneficial, an independent and equal relationship.”

The Colombian government has apologised to the country’s indigenous communities for the devastation caused by the Amazon rubber boom around a hundred years ago.

Civil groups say up to 100,000 people were killed when a Peruvian company, backed by the Colombian government, caused devastation while harvesting rubber from 1912 to 1929.

The crimes committed include slavery, torture, extra judicial killings and torture.

President Juan Manuel Santos asked for forgiveness "for all the dead and their orphans" and said that the government at the time "failed to understand the importance of safeguarding each indigenous person and culture as an essential part of a society we now understand as multi-ethnic and multicultural."

The apology was issued on the Day of Race, when the arrival of Christopher Columbus is commemorated in Latin America.

The Ministry of Defence has said it will investigate claims by the Sunday Times that arms firms call on retired senior military officers to lobby the government for multi-million pound arms deals.

The investigation by the paper saw a fictitious lobbying company contact the “generals for hire”, and secretly filmed them as they boasted about their ability to influence senior figures inside the government, including the prime minister.

The Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond denied the claims and said to the BBC that military equipment was "procured in the interests of the armed forces and not in the interests of retired personnel".

"Former military officers have no influence over what MoD contracts are awarded," he said.

New evidence has surfaced that indicates that the Syrian air force has used cluster bombs, reported Human Rights Watch.

Videos posted online by Syrian activists displayed the remnants of cluster munitions.

The Human Rights Watch arms director, Steve Goose, condemned Syria’s actions, proclaiming,

“Syria’s disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign  which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas.”

Imploring the use of chemical weapons to halt, he said “Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate weapons that continue to kill and maim for years.”

A vast majority of the world’s nations have banned the use of cluster munitions through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which became a binding international law in 2010. Over a 100 countries signed the treaty, although notably Syria, Russia and the US are yet to sign.