Biden: US should close Guantanamo Bay prison News
Biden: US should close Guantanamo Bay prison

[JURIST] US Senator Joseph Biden [official website] said Sunday on ABC-TV's This Week that the US should begin efforts to close down the military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. Biden, head Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [official website], also suggested that an independent commission should review the prison and make recommendations, saying prisoners the US does not need to keep should be released. He called Guantanamo "the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world." Biden's comments come in the wake of a Pentagon report released Friday [JURIST report] detailing how US guards desecrated the Koran and an Amnesty International report last month [JURIST report] calling the prison camp the "gulag of our time." Senator Arlen Specter [official website], chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], will hold hearings later this month [JURIST report] to discuss the ongoing reports of prisoner abuse. AP has more.

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.