South Sudan

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South Sudan

January 14, 2014 03:30:03 am

The Sudanese Civil War culminated in an agreement to allow the southern part of the country to succeed if the proposition passed a popular referendum. This was a compromise between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement of the south and the National Congress Party of the north to take a step forward from the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended decades of civil strife. The requirements for succession were set at a 51% south Sudanese vote in favor of the motion predicated on at least a 60% voter turnout. Referendum rules were set to deal with the prospect of the oil-rich Abyei region, though dispute over the territory persists today.

The vote resulted in a 98.83% yes vote and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir officially accepted the outcome. On July 9, 2011, South Sudan was officially welcomed into the community of nations. Salva Kir led the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, and he was sworn in as the nascent nation’s first president. Kiir is currently serving a four-year term.

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.

UN Drug Trafficking Convention signed

On December 20, 1988, the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was signed in Vienna, Austria. The treaty provides mechanisms for international coordination in preventing the manufacture and distribution of drugs worldwide. Over 170 countries have signed the treaty to date.