UN approves resolution sending 10,000 peacekeepers to Sudan News
UN approves resolution sending 10,000 peacekeepers to Sudan

[JURIST] The UN Security Council Thursday unanimously voted to send over 10,000 peacekeepers to Sudan [JURIST news archive] in an effort to monitor a peace deal [JURIST report] intended to end a 21-year civil war. The resolution sidesteps issues regarding sanctions for war crimes in the country's Darfur region. In late January, a UN backed council declared that crimes against humanity, but not genocide, had occurred in Darfur. Agreement on how to proceed [JURIST report] in Darfur, however, has been complicated because of US reluctance to refer criminal cases to the International Criminal Court [official website], a body that the US opposes. Although the peacekeeping resolution is not directly tied to Darfur, the Council is hopeful that the move will reinforce "the effort to foster peace in [the region]." AP 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.