Australia to investigate Gitmo detainee abuse allegations News
Australia to investigate Gitmo detainee abuse allegations

[JURIST] A day after lawyers for Australian Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks [BBC profile; advocacy website; JURIST news archive], said they have evidence that Hicks suffered sexual abuse and torture [JURIST report] while in US custody, the Australian government has said it will investigate Hicks' accusations. Hicks' father and a former detainee have said [ABC Australia transcript] that he was taken from a US warship and blindfolded, beaten, spat upon, assaulted and sexually abused in two 10-hour beatings by Americans on the way to Cuba. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer [official profile] said that the Australian Embassy [official website] in Washington will follow up the credibility of these claims after American teams have yet to find any evidence of abuse or torture [JURIST report]. Hicks has been in US military custody at Guantanamo Bay for three-and-a-half years after being captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. He is accused of fighting for al Qaeda and has pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding the enemy and conspiring to commit war crimes. Hicks' military commission trial is scheduled to start [JURIST report] on November 18. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.