US soldier sentenced in Afghan abuse case, Karzai criticizes leniency News
US soldier sentenced in Afghan abuse case, Karzai criticizes leniency

[JURIST] US soldier Glendale Wells was sentenced Wednesday to two months in prison by a military court for his role in abusing an Afghan detainee known as Dilawar [Wikipedia profile], who died in December 2002 at Bagram Control Point [Global Security profile] near Kabul. Wells earlier pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to slamming Dilawar against a wall and failing to intervene as other soldiers at Bagram abused the prisoner. The Afghan government says it is dismayed [BBC report] with what it calls the unexpected leniency shown to American soldiers convicted of abusing Afghan detainees. A spokesman for Afghan president Hamid Karzai says Wells and others should have been severely punished. This is the first custodial sentence given to any US soldier convicted of abuse in Afghanistan since 2001. BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.