Peru marchers demand legalization of death penalty News
Peru marchers demand legalization of death penalty

[JURIST] Thousands of Peruvians took to the streets of Lima Friday, marching and waving pictures of lost loved ones in support of a proposal to legalize the death penalty for members of the Shining Path [BBC bakgrounder] rebel group. In response to a vote last week by the Peruvian Congress [official website] indefinitely shelving new death penalty legislation [Reuters report], Peruvian President Alan Garcia [official website], who had previously called on the lawmakers to authorize the death penalty for terrorism offenses [JURIST report, press release, in Spanish] has proposed changing the constitution to allow a public referendum on the death penalty.

Polls show that re-institution of the death penalty has widespread public support, but Peruvian lawmakers are wary of breaching the American Convention of Human Rights [text], which Peru has signed. The death penalty is currently only authorized in cases of wartime treason and there have been no executions in Peru since the 1970s. BBC News 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.