Three Guantanamo detainees repatriated to Saudi Arabia News
Three Guantanamo detainees repatriated to Saudi Arabia

[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] Friday that three Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees have been transferred to Saudi Arabia, their country of origin, where they will undergo judicial review and rehabilitation. Khalid Saad Mohammed, Abdalaziz Kareem Salim Al Noofayaee, and Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair were already cleared by the Bush administration, but the DOJ conducted "a comprehensive review" pursuant to President Barack Obama's executive order [text; JURIST report] that also ordered the closure within one year of the Guantanamo detainee facility. This week, one detainee was transferred to the US for trial, four Uighur detainees were transferred to Bermuda [JURIST report], one detainee was transferred to Chad [DOJ press release], and one to Iran. According to Matthew Olsen, Executive Director of the Guantanamo Review Task Force, "[t]his marks the largest number of transfers in a single week."

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates [official profile] said last month that the US would continue efforts to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia [JURIST report] to transfer 100 Yemeni detainees who would also undergo rehabilitation, despite reports that two former prisoners have rejoined al Qaeda in Yemen. The Saudi program to rehabilitate Islamic extremists was designed with input from psychiatrists, sociologists, and Muslim clerics. The Saudi Minister of Interior [official website] reports that only nine of the 218 men who have undergone rehabilitation have been rearrested. Guantanamo detainees have been moved to over thirty countries since 2002, and there remain 229 detainees at the detention facilities in Cuba.

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.