Rwandan refugees declared illegal immigrants by Burundi; UN concerned News
Rwandan refugees declared illegal immigrants by Burundi; UN concerned

[JURIST] Some 8,000 refugees from Rwanda face deportation Tuesday after neighboring Burundi declared them illegal immigrants over the weekend. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [official site] has urged Burundi to reconsider and warned it might be violating international law if the refugees are involuntarily returned [Reuters report]. Burundi has been fighting since late April to return the refugees [JURIST report]. Mostly Hutus, they fled to Burundi in fear of retribution [AFP report] from the Tutsis, who suffered almost 800,000 deaths in the Rwandan genocide 1994. BBC News has more.

12:17 PM ET – More than 3,700 asylum seekers have left a transit center [UNHCR press release] in Burundi against UNHCR wishes and it is unsure whether they left voluntarily. UNHCR has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.