US Army soldiers charged with premeditated murder of Iraqi nationals News
US Army soldiers charged with premeditated murder of Iraqi nationals

[JURIST] The Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I) [official website] announced charges [press release] Saturday of premeditated murder and wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of deceased Iraqis against US Army Staff Sergeant Michael A. Hensley and Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval, Jr. The two soldiers allegedly killed three unarmed Iraqis in three separate incidents between April and June 2007 in the vicinity of Iskandariyah, Iraq. Hensley is also charged with three counts of obstruction of justice. The MNF-I says that both Hensley and Sandoval are currently held in pre-trial confinement in Kuwait.

The two will face a Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder], similar to civil grand jury proceedings, to determine whether they will face courts-martial. If convicted of premeditated murder, Hensley and Sandoval could face the death penalty. AFP has more.

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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