Cambodians demonstrate for faster Khmer Rouge trials News
Cambodians demonstrate for faster Khmer Rouge trials

[JURIST] Cambodian students and Buddhist monks protested Tuesday in Phnom Penh, asking the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website] to quickly begin trials against former leaders of the late-1970s Khmer Rouge communist regime [backgrounder] for crimes against humanity. Over 600 demonstrators took to the streets over concerns that the trials are moving too slowly and that many former Khmer Rouge leaders in UN custody could die before trials are actually held.

The Khmer Rouge are generally held responsible for the genocide of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians [PPU backgrounder] who died between 1975 and 1979. The ECCC was established by a 2001 Cambodian law [text as amended 2005, PDF] authorizing the investigation and trial of surviving Khmer Rouge officials, but to date, no top officials have faced trials. The first trials are expected in 2008. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

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.