Rice urges Syria to release jailed activists, cooperate with Hariri probe News
Rice urges Syria to release jailed activists, cooperate with Hariri probe

[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile] Saturday criticised [press release] Syria [JURIST news archive] for its "arbitrary detention" of human rights activists "including Kamal Labwani and all the prisoners of conscience from the Damascus Spring" during a conference in Bahrain attended by Arab leaders. The Damascus Spring [Wikipedia backgrounder] followed the June 2000 death of President Hafez al-Assad, and was a period when Syrians began to actively discuss politics and society as never before; Labwani, a doctor and an activist highly critical of Syria's human rights record, was arrested by Syrian officials following a trip to the US where he met with senior officials. On Friday, the first day of her Middle East trip, Rice told reporters that Syria "should stop trying to negotiate and cooperate" with the ongoing investigation of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive]. On Wednesday, Syria invited [JURIST report] Detlev Mehlis, the head of the UN investigation [UN materials] into the assassination, to Damascus to discuss Syria's cooperation with the UN probe. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Hitler and Nazis attempt failed coup in Beer Hall Putsch

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted an ill-faited coup in Munich, Germany on November 8, 1923. Instead of seizing power, the conspirators suffered 15 casualties and their leaders were arrested, including Hitler. The future dictator would spend a year in prison as a result, where he would write his infamous Mein Kampf. Learn more about the Beer Hall Putsch.

Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide

On November 8, 1994, Oregon passed the Death With Dignity Act by voter initiative, becoming the first US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Read the Death With Dignity Act,

France government opens the Louvre as a public museum

On November 8, 1793, the revolutionary government in France opened the Louvre for the first time as a public museum. Learn more about the history of the Louvre.