Australian minister concedes former Gitmo detainee may have been tortured in Egypt News
Australian minister concedes former Gitmo detainee may have been tortured in Egypt

[JURIST] Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer [official website] has conceded that claims by Mahdouh Habib [Prisoners Without Trials profile], a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, that he was tortured while held in Egypt may be true. Downer, who made the comments during a radio interview Monday, was responding to an interview Habib gave over the weekend, in which he alleged that he was tortured during the three years he has been imprisoned since being detained in Pakistan in 2001. Habib also alleged that his torture was witnessed by an Australian official in Pakistan. Downer said there was no way to confirm the allegations of torture in Egypt since the Egyptian government has not admitted to detaining Habib. Habib was released [JURIST report] from Guantanamo Bay without charge several weeks ago, but the US has maintained he has ties to al-Qaida. Read a transcript of Downer's interview. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Pope Urban II sparks First Crusade

Pope Urban II threw his support behind what would become the First Crusade on November 27, 1095 during the Council of Clairmont. The Pope urged the council's participants to render aid to the Byzantine Empire, which was being attacked by the Seljuks. Pope Urban called for a wide coalition of rich and poor to combat the threat, which eventually resulted in the conquest of much of the Muslim-controlled Levant by the Crusaders and the establishment of the Crusader States. Read Pope Urban's address.  

Catholic Code of Canon Law revised

On November 27, 1983, the revised Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church went into effect. Learn more about the history of Canon Law from Professor Kenneth Pennington of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law.

Alfred Nobel creates Nobel Prize in his will

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his will, creating the Nobel Prize. Learn more about the history of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Commission.