Rwanda businessman pleads guilty to crimes against humanity charge News
Rwanda businessman pleads guilty to crimes against humanity charge

[JURIST] Joseph Nzabirinda [ICTY case file], a Rwandan businessman charged in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide, pleaded guilty to murder as a crime against humanity [press release] Thursday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [official website]. Nzabirinda was initially charged [indictment, PDF] with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity and rape as a crime against humanity. Prosecutors amended the indictment to the single murder as a crime against humanity charge before Nzabirinda entered his plea.

Nzabirinda was accused of participating in meetings with the Interahamwe militia where militia members discussed their plan to execute Tutsis. The ICTR will hold a sentencing hearing for Nzabirinda next month. The UN News Service 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.