US threatens UN budget delay without progress on reforms News
US threatens UN budget delay without progress on reforms

[JURIST] The US on Tuesday threatened to hold up approval of a two-year UN budget unless reforms agreed to in September were acted on by the end of the year. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official profile] said the reform proposals would not be ready for action until February, according to US Ambassador John Bolton [official profile], who said waiting that long would result in a loss of momentum on UN reform [JURIST news archive; US Mission to the UN backgrounder]. The document agreed to in the September World Summit [official website] calls for the reforms to be proposed during the first quarter of 2006. Annan warned that budget approval was needed by the end of the year so his staff could move forward with planning. Otherwise, the UN could face serious financial crisis, Annan said. Bolton proposed that an interim three- to four-month budget could be approved by the end of the year to keep the UN running until the reforms could be brought to a vote. Some of the higher profile reforms approved in September [JURIST report] include the creation of a peacebuilding commission and a replacement body for the UN Human Rights Commission [official website]. Reuters has more.

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.