ICTR genocide trial begins for former top Rwanda official News
ICTR genocide trial begins for former top Rwanda official

[JURIST] The war crimes trial of former Rwandan colonel and prefect of Rwanda's capital city Tharcisse Renzaho [ICTR case file] began [press release] Monday at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website; JURIST news archive]. Renzaho faces charges [indictment, PDF] of genocide, complicity in genocide, and murder as a crime against humanity in connection with the 1994 Rwandan genocide [HRW backgrounder; BBC backgrounder]. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Prosecutors claim Renzaho actively participated in and encouraged the murder of Tutsis [Wikipedia backgrounder], as well as the rape of Tutsi women. The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in the deaths of over 800,000 people. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.