UN rights chief calls for greater disclosure on executions in China News
UN rights chief calls for greater disclosure on executions in China

[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile] wrapped up an official visit to China [UN press release] Friday, calling for China to release data about its use of capital punishment and urging cooperation with international standards. "It is not appropriate to say: 'We are doing this our own way'" she said, citing optimism for improvement but objecting to China's position [Reuters report] that nations work on their own to protect human rights. Arbour also expressed concern [UN News report] that those executed in China may be victims of discrimination, or guilty of crimes that international standards don't consider serious enough to warrant the death penalty. Earlier this week, the Chinese government signed a memorandum of understanding [JURIST report], committing to legal reforms that will enable the country to join the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text]. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.