[JURIST] The first ten men to be tried in Sudan [JURIST news archive] for atrocities committed in the volatile Darfur region [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] all pleaded not guilty Tuesday. The men, associated with the government-allied political group called the Popular Defense Forces, face charges [JURIST report] of rape and robbery. The trials commenced last Saturday in a Sudanese special court [JURIST report] after the government refused to have suspects tried abroad. The UN Security Council has asked the International Criminal Court [official website] to investigate war crimes in Darfur, but Sudan is thusfar refusing to allow the ICC to try its citizens abroad. Reuters has more.