UN to Bangladesh: end enforced disappearances News
UN to Bangladesh: end enforced disappearances

[JURIST] The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances [official website] urged [press release] Bangladesh on Friday to end enforced disappearances. The Working Group says that the number of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh has risen from a few cases to around 40 in the past few years. Many of the cases involve political opponents, including three men who disappeared last August. The Working Group said, “Enforced disappearance is a heinous crime and an offence to human dignity and no circumstances whatsoever may be invoked to justify it.” The group wants Bangladesh to disclose immediately the whereabouts of the victims.

Bangladesh’s criminal justice system has also faced criticism recently. In January a Bangladesh court sentenced [JURIST report] 26 individuals to death for murder. In August UN humans rights experts urged [JURIST report] the government of Bangladesh to repeal the death sentence imposed upon Mir Quasem Ali, an opposition member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party. Also in August the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICTB) sentenced [JURIST report] a former member of parliament to death and seven others to life in prison for crimes committed during the 1971 war for independence. In July a Bangladeshi court officially indicted [JURIST report] 41 people with murder stemming from a 2013 garment factory collapse that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. In June the ICTB sentenced [JURIST report] Mohibur Rahman to death for his part in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.