Detainee lawyer notes detail ‘brutal treatment’ at Guantanamo News
Detainee lawyer notes detail ‘brutal treatment’ at Guantanamo

[JURIST] The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights [advocacy website] said Wednesday that declassified notes, taken by a lawyer during interviews with inmate clients participating in the ongoing hunger strike [JURIST report], describe "brutal treatment" of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military camp in Cuba. The notes, written by Julia Tarver, detail allegations of force-feeding without anesthesia or sedatives via tubes inserted into the stomach through the nose. The striking detainees also alleged that the tubes were re-used and conditions were unsanitary. The CCR claims that over 200 inmates have participated in the hunger strike [CCR report, PDF] since it began in August; the Pentagon says that there are 24 detainees currently on hunger strike. Responding to the hunger strike, lawyers have petitioned [JURIST report; press release] a US District Court in Washington, DC to end the alleged mistreatment and to allow them to make more frequent visits with their clients. From Melbourne, the Herald Sun 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.