US military probe finds no abuse of Australian Gitmo detainees News
US military probe finds no abuse of Australian Gitmo detainees

[JURIST] An investigation conducted by the US Navy Criminal Investigation Services [official website] has found no evidence to support allegations that Australian Guantanamo Bay detainees were abused. In a letter written to Australian Prime Minister John Howard [official website] released Saturday, Principal Deputy US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry noted that a exhaustive year-long inquiry undertaken at the request of Australian authorities [JURIST report] revealed "no information that substantiates or corroborates allegations of abuse" of terror suspects David Hicks [JURIST news archive; Fair Go for David advocacy website] and Egyptian-born Australian Mamdouh Habib [JURIST news archive]. Hicks was taken into custody in August 2001, and is still awaiting trial by a military commission on charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. Habib was released [JURIST report] in January after three years in custody at the terror suspect detention camp, and has since alleged that he was mistreated at the hands of US authorities. Reuters has more. Mamdouh Habib is sticking by his abuse claims [Australian Broadcasting Corporation report] following the US military report's release.

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.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.