US submits resolution condemning Cuba rights record News
US submits resolution condemning Cuba rights record

[JURIST] The United States submitted a draft resolution to the UN Commission on Human Rights [official website] Tuesday criticizing the human rights record of Cuba [government website]. The US annually submits a similar resolution as part of its efforts to keep up international pressure on the communist Latin American nation. The US also urged the renewal of Christine Chanet as special investigator on human rights for Cuba. Chanet released her 2004 report on Cuba's human rights situation [PDF] last month, criticizing Cuba for its continued incarceration of political prisoners, repression of free speech and assembly rights, and strict limitations on the press. UN Human Rights Commission resolutions carry no mandatory weight, but a negative sanction is a public reprimand that most nations seek to avoid. Last year's resolution condemning Cuba's human rights record only passed by two votes, with ten abstentions. 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.