ICC orders Darfur rebels to stand trial over peacekeeper killings News
ICC orders Darfur rebels to stand trial over peacekeeper killings
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[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday ordered two Darfur [JURIST news archive] rebel leaders to stand trial [press release] for war crimes. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) are suspected in connection with the September 2007 attack on African Union (AU) [official website] peacekeeping troops at Haskanita [BBC backgrounder], which resulted in the death of 12 peacekeepers. They are charged with three war crimes: violence to life and attempted violence to life; intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and pillaging. The men surrendered to the ICC in June and agreed not to contest the charges [JURIST reports] at a confirmation of charges hearing.

This will be the ICC’s first trial for crimes committed in the Sudan’s Darfur region. A third rebel leader, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, was charged by the ICC earlier this year [case materials] in connection with the attack, but the charges were dropped [JURIST report] due to lack of evidence. Two other suspects, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [JURIST news archive], remain at large. Bashir was charged with genocide [JURIST report] in July.

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.