Mauritania approves constitutional change, preliminary results show

News

Mauritania approves constitutional change, preliminary results show

June 26, 2006 10:30:00 am

[JURIST] Mauritania [government website, in Arabic; CIA backgrounder] citizens have approved changes to the country's constitution in a Sunday referendum [BBC Q/A] by 80 to 90 percent, according to preliminary results announced Monday by the Interior Ministry. The changes are being made to the 1991 constitution [text, in French] after a series of votes indicated citizens wanted a return to democracy, in sharp contrast the government of ousted [JURIST report] autocratic ruler Maaouiya Ould Taya [Wikipedia profile].

If the constitutional referendum passes, the president will be given broad powers, but parliament will also be able to vote no confidence in the government. The vote also marks a rare move by an African nation to impose term limits [JURIST report] on presidents, limiting presidencies to two terms of five years. A presidential election will take place in March. AFP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

Georgia became first US state to ban lynching

On December 20, 1893, Georgia became the first state in the Union to pass a law against lynching, making the act punishable by four years in prison. The statute was not particularly effective—read the text of the 1899 pamphlet Lynch Law in Georgia by anti-lynching activist Ida Wells-Barnett.

UN Drug Trafficking Convention signed

On December 20, 1988, the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was signed in Vienna, Austria. The treaty provides mechanisms for international coordination in preventing the manufacture and distribution of drugs worldwide. Over 170 countries have signed the treaty to date.