Top Army general refused to reprimand former Gitmo commander for abuse News
Top Army general refused to reprimand former Gitmo commander for abuse

[JURIST] According to a congressional aide speaking on the condition of anonymity, an unreleased Pentagon report reveals that a top Army general rejected the recommended reprimand of former Guantanamo Bay prison commander Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller [Wikipedia profile] for the abusive interrogation of a detainee. The recommendation came from two generals after a military investigation into FBI allegations of prisoner abuse at the camp. The congressional aide cited offenses from the report such as female interrogators inappropriately touching prisoners, threats against a prisoner's family, chaining detainees to the floor in fetal positions, and improper use of duct tape on a detainee. The US Senate Armed Services Committee [official website] is expected to be briefed on the results of the unreleased report Wednesday. News of the report follows Saturday's release of Capt. Leslie J. McKoy [JURIST report] from his post as commander of the Guantanamo Bay naval base, although Pentagon says that that dismissal was unrelated to detention camp operations. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.