Annan defends UN rights chief criticism of US renditions News
Annan defends UN rights chief criticism of US renditions

[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] Thursday defended contentious statements made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour [official profile; JURIST news archive] on US terrorist rendition practices [JURIST archive], saying through a spokesperson that she has his "full confidence" as a "highly respected jurist," and that "international civil servants should be allowed to speak freely" on their areas of expertise. Arbour Wednesday criticized US rendition practices [JURIST report] as having a "corrosive effect on the global ban on terror," before specifically condemning "the use of secret detention facilities and the seeking of diplomatic assurances to avoid what would otherwise be the total prohibition on rendering, surrendering, deporting, turning back people to countries where they may face the risk of torture." Arbour also took Washington to task for breaching the 1984 Convention Against Torture [text] it signed, which "prohibits recourse to torture, cruel degrading and other inhumane treatment at the instigation of agents of the state for the purpose of obtaining intelligence or other types of information." US ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official profile] immediately castigated Arbour after her remarks, saying it was "inappropriate and illegitimate for an international civil servant to second guess the conduct of what we are engaged in the war on terror with nothing more as evidence than what she reads in the newspapers." Watch recorded video of Bolton's remarks. Annan's spokesperson mentioned that Annan plans on discussing the issue with Bolton "at an early date." Aljazeera 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.