UN mission in Congo condemns arrests of opposition members News
UN mission in Congo condemns arrests of opposition members

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) [official website] on Monday denounced [press release] the arrest of 30 opposition party members as part of a crackdown by President Joseph Kabila’s [BBC profile] government.

The men who were arrested belonged to opposition group, Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS). It has been reported that the meeting of the group was surrounded by police and military forces, leading to the subsequent arrests.

Maman Sidikou, the head of MONUSCO, responded to the arrests stating, “I urge the Congolese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release those arbitrarily arrested yesterday in Lubumbashi”. Sidikou further “wish[ed] to remind the Congolese authorities of their obligations to respect the fundamental freedoms and civil and political rights of all persons, in accordance with the Constitution and the international obligations of the DRC.”

THIS DAY @ LAW

Guiteau tried for assassinating US President Garfield

On November 14, 1881, Charles Guiteau went on trial for the assassination of US President James A. Garfield. The trial of Guiteau pointed to problems with nineteenth-century law's treatment of insanity; Guiteau's trial is also problematic in retrospect as Garfield's death was immediately attributable not to Guiteau, but to Garfield's doctors who—before sterilization was well understood—repeated probed his wound with unwashed hands while searching for an embedded bullet.