Detainee alleges abuse en route to Guantanamo News
Detainee alleges abuse en route to Guantanamo

[JURIST] Benyam Mohammed [also Binyam Ahmad Muhammad], a 27-year-old Ethiopian man held at Guantanamo, claims he was tortured in Pakistan, Morocco, and Afghanistan before arriving in Cuba. While there is no independent verification for Mohammed's claims, it is not the first allegation of US-facilitated abuse in foreign countries [JURIST report] utilized in order to get around US laws against torture. Mohammed says he was not physically abused after arriving in Guantanamo. US officials have told Mohammed's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith [Wikipedia profile] that Mohammed was an associate of terror suspect Jose Padilla [Wikipedia profile], a claim Smith calls "total nonsense." He also demanded an explanation for scars on Mohammed's body, which Mohammed says were caused by the abuse [Guardian report]. Mohammed's allegations are generally similar to those made in January by now-released Australian detainee Mamdouh Habib, who said he had been transferred by the United States from Pakistan to Egypt, where he was subjected to torture by beating, electric shock, and near-drowning [JURIST report] before being sent on to Guantanamo Bay. The Washington Post 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.