US forces have vacated the Shamsi airbase in south-west Pakistan within the time limit given by the Pakistani government.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani told BBC Urdu, the air base is now under the control of the country's forces.

The withdrawal was demanded by the government after last months NATO air strike, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The airbase, which had been in use by the US since 2001, was utilised for surveillance of the tribal regions and staging drone attacks within Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Read report by Pakistan's The News here.

Botswana’s President Ian Khama spoke out against African leaders who have refused to fully co-operate with the International Criminal Court, calling it a “betrayal of the innocent and helpless victims”.

In a keynote speech delivered at the ICC’s annual meeting, Khama objected directly to the African Union’s decision earlier this year, to oppose the arrest warrants issued for late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and other wanted heads of state.

He told the meeting,

"I specifically note with regret that at a recent summit held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in June, 2011, the African Union formally decided not to cooperate with the ICC over the indictments and arrest warrants against some leaders,"

"This decision is a serious setback in the battle against impunity in Africa and undermines efforts to confront war crimes and crimes against humanity which are committed by some leaders on the continent."

"Such a move also places Africa on the wrong side of history. It is a betrayal of the innocent and helpless victims of such crimes."

"We need to have the political will and the moral courage to hold accountable, without fear or favour, anyone in authority -- including a sitting head of state -- when he or she is suspected of having committed crimes against innocent people."

He spoke as the ICC announced that Fatou Bensouda, the current deputy prosecutor of the ICC and a former justice minister of Gambia, is set to become the new Chief Prosecutor from June 2012.

Her appointment was widely hailed and uncontested, as Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina steps down after nine years. She becomes the first African to hold the post at the court. She stated,

"The African continent has again shown its support and its engagement in favor of international justice and the court," Bensouda said after her appointment.

"But let me stress: I will be the prosecutor of all the states parties in an independent and impartial manner."

See our earlier posts:

Next ICC Chief Prosecutor pledges universal accountability (Dec 2011)

Malawi 'needs to take its medicine' - UN (Nov 2011)

ICC demands Malawi explains failure to arrest Bashir (Oct 2011)

The government of El Salvador has apologised for the "blindness of state violence" that resulted in the massacre of over 1000 civilians in the town of El Mozote, in 1981.

Soldiers, of the now criminalised Atlacatl battalion executed civilians, almost half of whom were children. The victims were accused of working with left-wing guerrilla groups.

Speaking at a remembrance event held on Sunday in El Mozote, El Salvador's Foreign Minister, Hugo Martinez, said,

"This event seeks to honour the memory of hundreds of innocent people who were murdered 30 years ago here in El Mozote and in nearby towns."

Despite this long-awaited apology, the relatives of the deceased and human rights activists continue to seek justice.

Although negotiations to end the Salvadorean civil war in 1992, included a general amnesty, activists hope the case will be heard at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights next year.
 

The Dutch government has issued a formal apology for the massacre of villagers in Java in 1947.

On the 64th anniversary of the killings, Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Tjeerd de Zwaan, attended a memorial event at the Heroe’s Cemetery in Rawagede, the site of the massacre.

"In this context and on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologise for the tragedy that took place in Rawagede on the 9th of December, 1947," de Zwaan said.

According to local community groups, 431 men and boys were dragged out of their homes and executed in front of villagers during the country’s war of independence from the Netherlands.

Dutch officials deny that figure, claiming 150 people were killed during the massacre.

In September a court in The Hague found the Dutch state responsible for the killings, ordering the payment of compensation to relatives of the victims.

The Dutch government argued that the claim was inadmissible due to the expiry of a five-year statute of limitations, however the court found this to be ‘unacceptable’.

See related article:

Dutch state responsible for 1947 Indonesian massacre (16 Sep 2011)

“I hope that we will go to the end and that France will always be a country of human rights.”

''We are sure Turkey is going to repent. It's neither a precondition nor an aspiration to take revenge. Turkey should face its history. Turkish leadership can find the strength to reconsider its approaches towards the Armenian Genocide.”

“Our position hasn't changed and it's quite clear. We are ready to have normal relations with Turkey as it befits neighboring countries. For instance, Poland and Germany were such neighboring countries when the Chancellor Willy Brandt, realizing the crime committed by his country, knelt at Warsaw ghetto.

“Sooner or later Turkey, which considers itself a European country, will have leadership which will bow at Tsitsernakaberd. Better soon but it’s the matter of the Turkish people. We don’t oblige them anything. They should do that for the sake of the Turkish people as Willy Brandt did it for the sake of Germans.''

“Rest assured that France will not stop its commitment, since the massacres have not been recognized properly by the descendents of the perpetrators.”

"The democratic world, which has told us a lot about the virtues of democracy and good governance, should not be indifferent to what is happening in Yemen and Syria," said Karman.

"These (Arab leaders) should be brought to justice before the International Criminal Court; there should be no immunity for killers who rob the food of the people."

"This should haunt the world's conscience because it challenges the very idea of fairness and justice."

"No dictator can in the long run find shelter from this wind of history."

"It was this wind which led people to crawl up on to the Berlin Wall and tear it down. It is the wind that is now blowing in the Arab world."

"Not even President Saleh was able, and President Assad in Syria will not be able, to resist the people's demand for freedom and human rights."

"The leaders in Yemen and Syria who murder their people to retain their own power should take note of the following: mankind's fight for freedom and human rights never stops."

The Taliban’s deputy leader, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad has announced they are in talks with the government of Pakistan.

The announcement is likely to exacerbate tensions between the US and Pakistan, already at a critical point after the recent deaths of Pakistani troops in a NATO attack.

"Our talks are going in the right direction," said Maulvi Faqir Mohammad.

"If negotiations succeed and we are able to sign a peace agreement in Bajaur, then the government and the Taliban of other areas such as Swat, Mohmand, Orakzai and South Waziristan tribal region will sign an agreement. Bajaur will be a role model for other areas."

"There has been development in our peace talks but the government would have to show more flexibility in its stance and restore the trust of Taliban by releasing their prisoners and stop military operations against them."

According to Mohammad the talks have already resulted in the release of 145 Taliban by the Pakistani government and the Taliban itself has pledged a ceasefire.

The Pakistani Taliban are thought to have very close links to Al Qaida and the Afghan Taliban, both of which are involved in bloody attacks against NATO and Afghan troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The US is a major aid donor of Pakistan and regards the Taliban as a terrorist organisation.

The Libyan government has given British police the go-ahead to conduct inquiries into the Lockerbie bombing and the killing of PC Yvonne Fletcher.

Scottish detectives will travel to Libya to interview Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted for involvement in th Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

Al-Megrahi was released in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to his ill-health. At the time he was only expected to live another 2 months.

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC said:

"If media reports are correct I am pleased that the Transitional Government of Libya has agreed to allow officers from Dumfries and Galloway police to travel to Libya for enquiries.

"The trial court held that the bombing of Pan Am 103 and the murder of 270 people was an act of state-sponsored terrorism and that Megrahi did not act alone.

"This is a live enquiry and Scottish police and prosecutors will continue to pursue the evidence to bring the others involved to justice.

"I am grateful for the continued support of the US authorities and the UK government, in particular the Foreign Secretary whose efforts in pursuit of this matter are greatly appreciated."

Metropolitan police officers have also been given permission to visit Libya to further investigate the circumstances behind PC Fletchers death.

PC Yvonne Fletcher was killed in 1984 by a gunshot from within the Libyan embassy.

She was guarding the building during a protest by anti-Gaddafi activists.

"With a view to granting Serbia the status of candidate country by March 2012, the European Council tasks the Council to examine and confirm that Serbia has continued to show credible commitment and achieved further progress"

"The heads of state will consider in the next few hours if the explanations of the past few days are enough. I don't want to pre-empt anything."

Writing in The Christian Science Monitor, former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, reflected on the work of the UN Human Rights Council and urges further action.

Extracts reproduced below, see here for full article.

"More consequential to the Council’s effectiveness than its composition has been the fact that many Council members – from all regions of the world – have begun to break free from the regional straightjackets of the past and worked together to advance human rights."

"The regional bloc voting practices of the past are giving way to more considered discussion and collective action. This engagement on the part of countries has helped to make the Council more effective and progressive than other human rights institutions."

"Council action in response to the human rights situations in Iran, Libya, and Syria has, in each case, been possible due to the support of countries from Africa and Latin America, and even from within the Middle East."

"It is true that conducting effective diplomacy and changing political dynamics is hard, but working to find agreement with countries that have disparate worldviews has always been a difficult endeavor. Nevertheless, it is important and worthwhile."

"Human rights are at the core of the United Nations’ identity and enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. People everywhere still look to the United Nations to uphold respect for universal and indivisible rights."

"If we let the UN Human Rights Council fail, which will surely happen if democratic states weaken their commitment and engagement with it, we leave the field free to tyrants to call the shots."

"That would be a betrayal of those who are, or might one day be, the target of oppression and violence. These people rely on the protection the UN might offer, however imperfect, and even more rely on those committed to human rights to work within the UN to strengthen that protection and make it truly universal."

United Russia, the nationalist party backing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saw its representation slashed from 315 to 238 seats out of 450 in Sunday’s polls.

But even this reduced showing seemed to have been gained through interference by authorities at polling stations, the Financial Times reports.

International observers from the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe reported evidence of “flagrant procedural violations” and instances of “manipulation including several serious indications of ballot box stuffing”.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the more questionable voting for United Russia came from pro-Moscow warlord-run regions such as the north Caucasus.

Vote tallies showed 99.5 per cent of Chechens and 91 per cent of Dagestanis voted for United Russia. (See also the Moscow Times report).

Meanwhile, more than 90 per cent of patients in mental hospitals did the same.

“The Caucasus and our psychiatric hospitals have rescued United Russia from total humiliation” ran the headline on website Topnews.ru.

"They are not my forces. They are military forces belonging to the government. I don't own them. I'm president. I don't own the country. So they are not my forces."

“There was no command to kill or to be brutal”

"Every 'brute reaction' was by an individual, not by an institution, that's what you have to know."

"There is a difference between having a policy to crack down and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference."

"attempting to hide behind a sort of shell game and claim he does not exercise authority in his own country."

"He has had opportunities in the past to end the violence."

"The United States and many, many other nations around the world who have come together to condemn the atrocious violence in Syria perpetrated by the Assad regime know exactly what's happening and who is responsible."

"Who said that the United Nations is a credible institution?"

"We don't kill our people... no government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person."