Europe anti-torture committee urges Russia to address Chechnya torture claims News
Europe anti-torture committee urges Russia to address Chechnya torture claims

[JURIST] The Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) [official website] called on Russia [JURIST news archive] to deal with allegations of torture and abuse in the volatile Chechnya [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] region in a record third public statement [text, PDF; press release] released Monday. The CPT previously issued public statements denouncing conditions in Russia in 2001 and 2003. Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis [official profile] called [statement, text] on the Russian government to immediately comply with the CPT's recommendations. Reuters has more.

Council of Europe [official website] Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg [official profile] alleged [JURIST report] during a visit to the region in February that officials in Chechnya routinely use electrical shocks, forced confessions, and other forms of torture.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

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