Iraqi prisons minister to resign after abuse discoveries News
Iraqi prisons minister to resign after abuse discoveries

[JURIST] Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr [CBS profile], the minister in charge of Iraq's prison facilities, is expected to resign in the near future, according to multiple security and political sources. The reports follow accusations that he ran secret prisons [JURIST report] found in November [JURIST report] and December [JURIST report] where detainees were malnourished and apparently tortured. Jabr has downplayed [JURIST report] the severity of the human rights violations alleged to have occured at the facilities, and has denied personal responsibility [JURIST report] for abuses. Earlier this month he fired [JURIST report] Iraq's senior human rights inspector over the scandal. The Washington Times 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.