Chechen president-elect accuses Russia of torturing Chechnya detainees News
Chechen president-elect accuses Russia of torturing Chechnya detainees

[JURIST] The president-elect of Russia's Chechen Republic [official website, in Russian] accused Russian authorities Friday of torturing Chechen detainees. The allegations by Ramzan Kadyrov [BBC profile] came just days after the Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) [official website] released a report [text] calling on Russia to address claims of human rights violations [JURIST report] in Chechnya [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive].

The CPT report detailed the activities of a Russian Ministry of the Interior [official website] unit, called ORB-2 [Amnesty International backgrounder], which controlled a detention facility in Chechnya where detainees were "systematically subjected to torture." Kadyrov vowed to open an investigation into the ORB-2 torture allegations. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry's southern federal district said there would be no official comment on the allegations until at least Saturday. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

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