Iran diplomat held in Iraq says CIA tortured him but US denies allegation News
Iran diplomat held in Iraq says CIA tortured him but US denies allegation

[JURIST] Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi has claimed that CIA operatives tortured him after he was kidnapped and detained in Iraq [BBC report] two months ago. According to Iranian state television Saturday, Sharafi, who was released last week, said CIA officials asked him about Iran's relationship with Iraq and various Iraqi groups and then tortured him when he said Iran [JURIST news archive] had only an official relationship with Iraq [JURIST news archive].

US officials say the CIA did not play a role in Sharafi's disappearance or detention. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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.