Annan says Security Council reforms will not alter veto entitlement News
Annan says Security Council reforms will not alter veto entitlement

[JURIST] UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official profile] said Tuesday that expecting any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council [official website] to endorse reforms that would give other nations the same veto powers they already enjoyed would be "utopian". Annan has acknowleged the need for reform in the set-up of the UN's chief decision-making body, which currently has 15 members, five of which (the US, Russia, France, Britain and China) have unlimited veto power. He recently advanced a proposal that which would add six permanent Council seats. Italy Monday suggested a variant that would create a group of regional semi-permanent seats [JURIST report]. Neither plan gives another country veto power, however, and according to Annan, it would be impossible to try to either strip the permanent members of their veto power or entitle other countries to possess veto power. 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.