Justice by Jury?

Let's start the week with a story hitting close to home. Jury selection starts today in Ottawa for what is sure to a be a complicated, long-lasting, emotionally draining, not to mention historic trial.

The accused in this case is 39-year old Jacques Mungwarere, arrested in 2009 in Windsor for his alleged participation in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Mungwarere specifically is accused to have participated in the mass killing in two schools and one hospital.

Justice for Sierra Leone

Advocates of international justice rejoiced this past Thursday, as some justice has been delivered to the former leader of the war-torn Liberia, Charles Taylor.

After being on trial for almost five years, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found Taylor guilty on 11 counts including terrorism, rape, slavery, use of child soldiers and other crimes against humanity. This verdict is significant not only being it represents the first head of state that has been convicted for atrocities that occurred in Sierra Leone during the civil war of the 1990s, but also as Taylor is the first head of state to be convicted of sexual crimes by an international tribunal.