Amnesty International: Nepal on brink of ‘human rights catastrophe’ News
Amnesty International: Nepal on brink of ‘human rights catastrophe’

[JURIST] Amnesty International [official website] said Thursday that the recent imposition of emergency rule in Nepal by King Gyanendra [BBC profile] has taken the country to the "brink of disaster" and that the human rights crisis in the country could turn into a "catastrophe". The Nepalese government has disputed the AI statement, claiming the state of emergency [JURIST report] was necessary to combat the Maoist insurgency and create political stability. Amnesty head Irene Khan is urging donor nations to suspend military aid to the country, and also called on the Maoist rebels to respect international human rights laws and to stop targeting civilians. The new royal government is already facing international pressure as India, Britain, and the United States have all recalled their ambassadors. Read the Amnesty press release detailing its demands of the Nepalese government. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

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