UN tribunal gives Rwandan life in prison for role in genocide News
UN tribunal gives Rwandan life in prison for role in genocide

[JURIST] The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive] on Thursday sentenced Mika Muhimana, who was a councilor in the western Rwandan province of Kibuyea, to prison for the rest of his life for his role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [PBS report]. Judge Khalida Rashid Khan said the tribunal had found beyond any reasonable doubt that Muhimana shot Tutsi [Wikipedia profile] victims to death, raped several Tutsi women and also encouraged other men to rape in the town of Gishyita. Muhimana's sentence is the highest penalty the tribunal can give because no pardons are allowed. Muhimana's lawyers did not indicate whether they will appeal the ruling. The Rwandan genocide which killed more than 500,000 people, mostly the minority Tutsis, was led by a regime of extremists from Rwanda's Hutu [Wikipedia profile] majority. Read the ICTR press release and the summary of the judgement [PDF text]. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

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