Kiev Forces Responsible for Civilian Deaths in Luhansk - Human Rights Watch

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Government fighters are largely responsible for the indiscriminate use of artillery and rockets within the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, while self-defense forces are responsible for their use in the outskirts of the city, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in a Monday review of civilian casualties of the Ukraine crisis.

“While it was difficult to establish with certainty responsibility for individual attacks amid ongoing fighting,” stated the report released on Monday, “circumstantial evidence indicates that government forces were responsible for many of the attacks Human Rights Watch investigated in the city and that insurgent forces were responsible for several attacks against areas under government control on the outskirts.”
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#StopNATO and #NoToNATO: Anti-War Hashtags Getting Popular on Twitter Ahead of NATO Summit

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Anti-war hashtags, such as #StopNATO and #NoToNATO, have been gaining in popularity on Twitter ahead of the NATO summit in Wales, Great Britain, slated for September 4 - 5.

Twitter users of the popular network join activists worldwide in speaking against aggressive policies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO members are set to “address issues which threaten NATO countries’ national security, from fragile states to piracy, from terrorism to cyber attacks”, according to the statement published on the the UK government’s website. The summit is expected to focus on Russia and the crisis in Ukraine, as well as Afghanistan and withdrawal of troops.
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Donetsk, Luhansk Republics Call on Kiev to Acknowledge 'Special Status' - Statement

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The self-proclaimed eastern Ukrainian regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have called upon Kiev to acknowledge their special status in exchange for fulfilling the capitol's demands and promising to use maximum efforts to keep Ukraine a unified space.


“Equal negotiations are the single acceptable method for the People’s Republics on solving the conflict and restoring peace. The president, government and Verkhovna Rada (parliament of Ukraine) must accept in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Geneva Accords the legal acts guaranteeing…the acknowledgment by Kiev of the special status of the territories controlled by the People’s Republics,” a joint republic statement reads.
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Moscow ‘Shocked’ by Ukrainian Defense Minister’s Remarks of Looming Bloody War

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The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday it was “shocked” by the Ukrainian defense minister’s recent remarks, in which he warned of an imminent war between Russia and Ukraine that would lead to thousands of deaths.


“Moscow, of course, noted the remarks by the Ukrainian defense chief Valeriy Heletei, who claimed that ‘the operation to free east Ukraine from terrorists is over’ and announced the beginning of ‘the Great patriotic war’ that would leave ‘dozens of thousands’ dead. The degree of adequacy of the Ukrainian defense minister, who published this post on his Facebook page, requires a careful study, albeit not by military experts,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Donetsk, Luhansk Republics Demand Kiev Guarantee Their Right to Use Russian

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The self-proclaimed eastern Ukrainian republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are demanding that the Kiev government guarantee their right to use Russian as an official language.
“The president, the government and the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] must adopt legislative documents… guaranteeing the right of the people’s republics to use Russian as the official language,” the republics said in their joint negotiations’ statement.

NATO Spokesperson Says ‘Unaware’ of NATO Officers in Ukraine’s Mariupol

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NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Monday that she was unaware of possible presence of NATO officers in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.  “On this particular issue I can say that I'm not aware of any NATO officers in Mariupol,” she said. Earlier today, Donetsk People’s Republic representatives said that a group of six NATO officers has been blocked in the town of Mariupol in Donetsk region.

Last week, Donetsk militia forces claimed to have taken control of checkpoints and strongholds in the outskirts of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine.
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Pope Francis Sends Letter to Residents of Beslan Who Mark 10 Years Since School Massacre

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Pope Francis has written a letter to the residents of the town of Beslan in North Ossetia who are marking ten years since the Beslan school massacre, Italian media reported Monday.


Abbot Paolo De Carli, who sheltered 60 Beslan residents for two months at his monastery in the Trentino province in Italy in 2004, will take Pope Francis’s letter, the contents of which are not disclosed, to North Ossetia, the press service of the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation in Bolzano told RIA Novosti.
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Poroshenko Wants Donetsk, Luhansk Republics to be Recognized as Terrorist Organizations

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 Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko intends to raise the issue of recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as terrorist organizations during his upcoming visit to the United States, the president’s press service said in a statement Monday.

“Petro Poroshenko and [US Senator] Robert Menendez discussed the visit of the Ukrainian President to the United States planned for the second part of September and the scheduled meetings with US executives. The Head of State intends to raise the issue of recognizing the so-called DPR and LPR terrorist organizations in the course of his visit to the United States,” the statement says.
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UN Human Rights Council Says Islamic State Actions Amount to Crimes Against Humanity

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The UN Human Rights Council on Monday condemned terrorist acts and systematic human rights abuses committed by the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq, saying they amount to crimes against humanity.


The council, which convened for a special session in Geneva earlier in the day, said in its resolution that it “condemns in the strongest possible terms systematic violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law resulting from the terrorist acts committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups, taking place since 10 June 2014 in several provinces of Iraq, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”