Ten on trial in Sudan special court for Darfur atrocities News
Ten on trial in Sudan special court for Darfur atrocities

[JURIST] Ten men have gone to trial so far in Sudan [JURIST news archive] on charges of rape and robbery in the troubled Darfur region [BBC backgrounder], according to the head of Sudan's special court [JURIST report], which began proceedings last Saturday. The Sudanese court was formed by the national Sudanese government after the UN Security Council asked the International Criminal Court [official website] to investigate alleged war crimes in Darfur; the government refuses to have suspects tried abroad. The formation of the special court will be a substitute for the ICC, according to Sudan, as all suspects cannot be tried by the ICC. The UN appointed inquiry commission [UN report on Darfur, PDF text] does not believe that the Sudanese judiciary can handle the case, but the head of the court, Mahmoud Mohamed Saeed Abkam, announced that he will resign from the court should there be any Sudanese governmental interference. The men on trial so far are minor criminals, but the court should eventually move on to the prosecution of more senior officials. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.