War crimes trial of two Rwandans begins in Belgium News
War crimes trial of two Rwandans begins in Belgium

[JURIST] The trial of two Rwandan men accused of war crimes during the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder] begins Monday in Brussels. Half-brothers Etienne Nzabonimana and Samuel Ndashyikirwa are accused of helping the Hutu militia and are charged under Belgium's universal jurisdiction law, which allows the prosecution of war crimes suspects even if the suspects are not Belgian and the crimes were committed outside Belgium. Belgian courts were flooded with war crimes lawsuits after four Rwandans, including two nuns, were convicted in 2001 of participating in the genocide. Belgium's law has since been amended to require suspects to live in Belgium, as was the case when Nzabonimana and Ndashyikirwa were arrested in 2002. Reuters 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.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.