UN calls on US to define legal status of Afghan, Iraqi detainees News
UN calls on US to define legal status of Afghan, Iraqi detainees

[JURIST] Concluding its 82nd session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee asked the United States on Friday to delineate the legal status of inmates in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq. The US, which has been sharply criticized by human rights groups for abuses, is six years overdue on its regular report to the Committee on its compliance with the 1976 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Reports are generally due every four years and cover such topics as protection of the right to life, self-determination and due process, and freedom of movement, expression and religion. Brooks Robinson, spokeswoman at the US diplomatic mission in Geneva, said that Washington will file its report in the next few months and that the response will address relevant activities of the US armed forces. Reuters has more.

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.