Six detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay News
Six detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] announced Tuesday that six detainees have been transferred [press release] from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and into the custody of other home countries. Two of the transfers were to Tunisia and the four other detainees were transferred to Yemen. The detainees became eligible for transfer from the US military prison after completing a series of reviews. Eighty other current Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees have completed the same review and are eligible for transfer or release in the future.

In March, the DOD cleared 55 Guantanamo detainees [JURIST report] for transfer to other prisons. Two more were transferred [JURIST report], one to Morocco and one to Afghanistan, in April. In May, Yemen agreed to receive most of the Yemeni detainees [JURIST report] held at Guantanamo. Earlier this month, the DOD transferred [JURIST report] Abdullahi Sudi Arale, a suspected East Africa al Qaeda courier captured in Somalia, to Guantanamo Bay. Since 2002, approximately 405 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo and approximately 375 remain.

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.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.