UK Foreign Office calls Guantanamo ‘unacceptable’ in human rights report News
UK Foreign Office calls Guantanamo ‘unacceptable’ in human rights report

[JURIST] British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett [official profile] on Thursday called [press release] the "continuing detention without a fair trial" at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] "unacceptable in terms of human rights" and "ineffective in terms of counterterrorism." In announcing the release of Britain's 2006 Report on Human Rights [TOC; full report, PDF], Beckett reiterated calls for the US to close Guantanamo [JURIST report]. She said the "existence of the camp is as much a radicalising and discrediting influence as it is a safeguard to security."

Beckett's remarks came on the same day that the UK Court of Appeal [official website] upheld the refusal of the Foreign Office [official website] to lobby for the release of nine former UK residents [JURIST report] who are still being held at Guantanamo. AP 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.