UN rights body approves Sudan resolution, rejects Cuba call for Gitmo probe News
UN rights body approves Sudan resolution, rejects Cuba call for Gitmo probe

[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Commission [official website] Thursday passed a resolution condemning rights abuses in Sudan. The final text, supported by the US, the EU, other African nations and even Sudan itself, only passed after a compromise was reached on wording that also praised the Sudanese government's efforts to improve the situation in Darfur [BBC profile]. The resolution condemned in general terms "the continued, widespread and systematic violations by all parties of human rights and international humanitarian law" in Darfur and specifically condemned "the violence against civilians and sexual violence against women and girls, destruction of villages, widespread displacement and other violations." AP has more. Also Thursday, the Commission rejected Cuba’s bid for an international investigation of US treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [official website]. The vote against Cuba’s resolution was 22-8, with 23 nations abstaining. China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Malaysia, Guatemala and Mexico also supported the resolution. The resolution would have required the US to authorize an independent fact-finding mission to determine the human rights conditions for detainees at Guantanamo. Cuba introduced the resolution after the Commission approved a resolution [UN press release] to report on the human rights situation in Cuba. 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.