GOP Senator calls for Guantanamo closure News
GOP Senator calls for Guantanamo closure

[JURIST] Republican Senator Mel Martinez [official website] has become the first major GOP lawmaker to call for the closure of the military terror detention camp at Guantamao Bay [JURIST news archive]. Speaking Friday in Florida, Martinez, a former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first term Bush cabinet, called the facility an "icon of bad news". His comments echo those of several high-profile Democrats [JURIST report] who have recently called for Guantanamo to the closed, even as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said there are no plans to shut it down [JURIST report]. The Miami Herald has more.

In a related story, the Bush administration announced Friday that it has reconsidered its earlier decision to send home three Uzbek prisoners currently being held at the terrorism detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, citing concerns about Uzbekistan’s treatment of protesters [Amnesty International report] after recent civic disturbances [JURIST report]. The UN Convention Against Torture [text] bars extraditing prisoners to states where doing so would place them in danger of torture. The Boston Globe 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.