Indonesian security forces are reported to have attacked a rally marking Papua’s 50th anniversary of its declaration of independence.

Activists across Papua rallied in traditional dresses and protested against the continued occupation of the restive province by Indonesia.

Police officials denied that any protestors were injured but reports indicate several Papuans were shot and many more were arrested.

Footage, broadcast on local television stations, shows police violently arresting activists and confiscating the Papuan national flag, which is banned in Indonesia.

The recently elected leader of the Papuan nation called for the recognition of an independent Papua.

Forkorus Yaboisembut, currently imprisoned, told the Sydney Morning Herald in a phone call from his cell:

"I call on all nations that love democracy and human rights and respect international law to recognise the Papuan nation,

"All speeches made by world leaders about democracy and human rights are empty speeches because they allow the discrimination to take place against Papuans in Papua,

"The Papuan people have been marginalised, discriminated against.

"We have become minority in our own land. We are going to extinction,

"We have strong support from the grassroots, some support from parliamentarians from many countries. What we lack is support from [foreign] governments.

"But we are optimistic."

Mr Yaboisembut was arrested for treason in October, after being elected president of the Federal Republic of West Papua.

He is facing up to 20 years in prison.

See previous articles:

Security forces attack, as Papua declares independence (19 Oct 2011)

Genocide charges against mining giant (26 Oct 2011)

Report accuses Indonesian police of brutality against Papuans (05 Nov 2011)

The Secretary General of the Arab league has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the imposition of sanctions was a ‘very serious’ message that they were sending, and urged him to cease the ongoing violence in the country immediately.

Speaking to the BBC, the Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said that the decision was taken “with a heavy heart” but,

"We have sent a very serious political message"

"You (Syria) have to behave, you have to stop what is going on, it's not business as usual. Something has to happen."

He went on to say that "time was running out" for President Bashar al-Assad and that he had to "stop fighting, release prisoners, reform".

Meanwhile, Turkish foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters, that they were ready for ‘any scenario’ in Syria.

He said,

“We hope that a military intervention will never be necessary.”

"However, the Syrian regime has to find a way of making peace with its own people to eliminate this option. If the oppression continues, Turkey is ready for any scenario."

See our earlier post: UN report alleges crimes against humanity in Syria (Nov 2011)

Turkey has announced tough economic and financial sanctions against Syria on Wednesday.

The move by Syria’s largest trading partner comes after similar sanctions were imposed by the Arab League, the European Union and the US.

The Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced 9 sanctions, including a freezing of Syrian assets, a travel ban for senior leaders and the suspending of ties with the Syrian central bank.

“Every bullet fired, every bombed mosque has eliminated the legitimacy of the Syrian leadership and has widened the gap between us,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey.

“Syria has squandered the last chance that it was given.”

“Syria must immediately cease using force on the people and the forces must immediately withdraw from the cities,”

In the 8 months since the start of the uprising, over 3,500 protestors are thought to have been killed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

"I am obviously looking to determine ... what is the intention of the current government with respect to continuing reforms.

We and many other nations are quite hopeful that these flickers of progress ... will be ignited into a movement for change that will benefit the people of the country."

 "US can make Burma change towards democracy. The conflict has become serious and the need to solve it is urgent."

Former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, has been taken into the custody of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, becoming the first ex-head of state to be detained in ICC custody.

The ICC is investigating reports of killings, rapes and other human rights abuses during a four month conflict between Gbagbo loyalists and Alassane Quattara's French-backed forces. Both sides have been accused of heinous crimes.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision as "a major step toward ensuring justice".

Elise Keppler, senior international justice counsel at HRW, said,

"This is a big day for the victims of Côte d'Ivoire's horrific post-election violence. That Laurent Gbagbo now has to answer to the court sends a strong message to Ivorian political and military leaders that no one should be above the law."

She went on to urge the ICC prosecutor to investigate Quattara's forces swiftly.

Gbagbo was deposed in April. Over 3000 people are believed to have been killed and over one million displaced.

"The commission is gravely concerned that crimes against humanity have been committed in different locations."

"These crimes include murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty.”

Torture by Syrian forces was described as “rampant”, with the commission saying it was

"particularly disturbed over the extensive reports of sexual violence, principally against men and boys, in places of detention".

The UN went on to recommend a "prompt, independent and impartial investigations under both domestic and international law to end impunity, ensure accountability and bring perpetrators to justice."

See Al Jazeera's interview with UN commission member Yakin Erturk below.

The release of the report comes as the Arab League imposed sanctions on Syria, a move that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem described as a declaration of “economic war”, noting that Syria had already withdrawn 95% of its assets from Arab countries.

The 39-page report examines violence from the end of September until mid-November 2011 and is officially known as the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic”. It was carried out by a three-member independent panel, headed by Paulo Pinheiro, a Brazilian human rights expert. They were all denied access to Syria to carry out their investigation.

Based on 223 victim and witness statements, the report alleges that,

"The sheer scale and consistent pattern of attacks by military and security forces on civilians and civilian neighbourhoods and the widespread destruction of property could only be possible with the approval or complicity of the state".

"The commission therefore believes that orders to shoot and otherwise mistreat civilians originated from policies and directives issued at the highest levels of the armed forces and the government".

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement,

"The international community must act. More than ever it has a duty to stop the suffering of the civilian population.”

"In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by state forces in many regions".

“What is driving the violence in Syria now is that the authorities still believe that there is a military option to crush the protesters”.

“The regime is facing huge international pressure. The West has more or less unanimously turned against it, it has no support from the Arab countries or the Arab streets and still it shows no sign of compromise.”

 “It has passed the point of compromise.”

A Kenyan court has ordered the goverment to arrest Sudan's president Omar Al-Bashir "should he set foot in Kenya in future",

The ruling came after the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) filed a suit seeking a new arrest warrant.

In response, Khartoum has taken the decision to expel Kenya's ambassador.

Kenya was criticised by the International Criminal Court in 2010, after failing to arrest Bashir during his stay in the country.

The UN Security Council have previously been urged, by the ICC, to take action against Kenya, as well as Chad and Djibouti for failing to arrest Bashir during state visits, however no action has been taken.

Most recently, Malawi washeavily criticised for its failure to arrest Bashir.

An arrest warrant was issued for Bashir, by the International Criminal court, in 2008 on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur.

Around 7000 prisoners, many of them sub-Saharan African mercenaries hired by Gaddafi, are still being held in detention across Libya, the UN says.

The men are held without access to legal services as courts are not yet fully working in the country.

"While the (National Transitional Council) has taken some steps toward transferring responsibility for the detainees from brigades to proper state authorities, much remains to be done to regularize detention, prevent abuse and bring about the release of those whose detention should not be prolonged," the report says.

Mr Ban said: "I believe that the leaders of the new Libya are indeed committed to building a society based on the respect for human rights."

"Achieving this requires the earliest possible action, however difficult the circumstances, to end arbitrary detention and prevent abuses and discrimination, against third country nationals as well as against any group of Libya's own citizens," he added.

The Arab League has approved sanctions against Syria after its suspension from the body earlier in the month.

The 22-member body voted 19-3 for the immediate implantation of the sanctions, with Iraq and Lebanon abstaining from the vote.

Turkey, acting as an observer, has indicated it too would impose the sanctions on its southern neighbour.

'When civilians are killed in Syria and the Syrian regime increases its cruelty to innocent people, it should not be expected for Turkey and the Arab League to be silent,' said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, according to the state Anatolia news agency.

The sanctions include a ban on travel of senior Syrian officials to other Arab countries, a freeze on the Syrian government’s assets, the stopping of funds for investments in Syria by Arab states and the halting of transactions with Syria’s central bank.

Syria has reacted defiantly, with reports emerging of tanks advancing towards Homs.

The city has been the centre of recent clashes between Syrian troops and anti-regime protesters.

Iranian MP’s have passed a bill to downgrade ties with the UK in response to sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme.

The bill would give President Ahmedinejad two weeks to expel Birtish Ambassador to Tehran, Dominick Chilcott, if approved by the Guardian Council.

"The British government should know that if they insist on their evil stances the Iranian people will punch them in the mouth, exactly as happened against America's den of spies, before it was approved by officials," said Tehran MP Mehdi Kuchakzadeh.

The comment refers to the hostage crisis in 1979, during which Iranian revolutionaries attacked the US embassy in Tehran.

The UK Foreign Office has said it will act ‘robustly’ if the bill is implemented, which also includes the reduction of economic and trade links between Britain and Iran.

"The Iranian parliament's vote to expel our ambassador is regrettable," a statement said.

"This unwarranted move will do nothing to help the regime address their growing isolation or international concerns about their nuclear programme and human rights record.

"If the Iranian government acts on this, we will respond robustly in consultation with our international partners."

In Sunday’s vote, 179 MPs voted for the bill, with 11 abstentions and 4 voting against it.

The four who voted against the motion are reported to have demanded a complete cut in ties with the UK, complaining this bill was inadequate.

"We have known for five years that the Mexican army is committing sexual abuse, executing people, torturing people and kidnapping, and there have been no sanctions"

"The violence in Mexico is bigger than the violence in Afghanistan, and bigger than the violence in Colombia"

"We want the prosecutor to tell us if war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Mexico, and if the president and other top officials are responsible".

He went on to argue the government doesn't have the will to prosecute drug war crimes saying,

"The Mexican legal system does not specifically define these crimes, so there is no way to prosecute those who commit them. Moreover, there is no political will to investigate the widespread violence"

While most cases are referred by states or the UN Security Council, the ICC can also start investigations on their own on the basis of information received from individuals or organisations.

To date they have only occurred in Africa but examinations have begun Afghanistan, Colombia, Honduras and Korea.

Richard Dicker, an international justice expert with Human Rights Watch said,

"There are a large number of boxes that the prosecutor would need to check off before he could actually open an investigation."

"It's possible ... but I think you want to be clear on what the challenges and obstacles are."

"The crimes would have to be widespread or systematic, carried out by a state or organization in attacks on a civilian population."

William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University commented that,

"It's certainly very arguable"

"The prosecutor has been very focused on Africa. The pattern is he stays within the comfort zone of the United States. Going after Mexicans for the war on drugs falls outside that comfort zone."

Last month a report by Human Rights Watch found evidence that the Mexican police and military were involved in 170 cases of torture 24 killings and 39 disappearances in five Mexican states, as well as systematic torture.

The office of the ICC prosecutor acknowledged receiving the petition and said they would "make a decision in due course."

China has said it will carry out naval exercises in the Pacific Ocean, after last week’s announcement by President Obama that 2,500 US marines will be stationed in Australia.

The Chinese Defence Ministry said in a statement the exercises were ‘routine’ and not targeted at a specific country.

"This is an annual, planned, routine drill. It is not directed at any specific country or target and is in keeping with relevant international laws and practices," said the statement.

"China's freedom of navigation and other legal rights should not be obstructed."

A spokesman for the Pentagon has said the US had no problem with China’s exercise and it was ‘entitled to exercise their military in ways they deem fit’.

Tensions have been high in the South China Sea, with several countries, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines, claiming marine territory.

The South China Sea is thought to hold vast amounts of natural resources and is of strategic importance to the countries on its shores.

See previous articles:

China concern at US task force in Australia (16 Nov 2011)

Sri Lanka signs oil deal with Vietnam (15 Oct 2011)