Amnesty International slams Australian detention of asylum seekers News
Amnesty International slams Australian detention of asylum seekers

[JURIST] Despite the Australian government's recently-announced changes to the system [Sydney Morning Herald report], Amnesty International said Thursday in a new report [text] that Australia's asylum policy is still "tragically flawed" [interview with AI Australia president]. AI says the controversial policy [JURIST report] of mandatory administrative detention results in "prolonged and potentially indefinite" detentions for those seeking relief from human rights violations. While it said new changes to reporting and review procedures [Daily Telegraph report] are a step in the right direction, more change is necessary. Read the AI press release.

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.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.