Iraq rights ministry finds abused detainees in Baghdad facility News
Iraq rights ministry finds abused detainees in Baghdad facility

[JURIST] The Iraqi Human Rights Ministry said late Sunday that 13 prisoners in an overcrowded facility run by the Iraqi Interior Ministry were abuse victims who required medical treatment. The detainees have been transferred to a hospital and are under guard. The Ministry also said that an investigating judge has ordered the immediate release of 56 people held seemingly without reason at the facility, inspected on December 8. Last month Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] ordered an investigation after US troops found 173 malnourished Iraqi detainees [JURIST report], some showing signs of torture, in another Interior Ministry building in Jadriyah. Observers believe disclosure of the more abuses could affect parliamentary elections scheduled for Thursday, since opposition parties and Sunni Arab groups have accused the government and Shiite-dominated security forces of gross human rights violations [JURIST report]. AP has more.

11:49 AM ET – Aljazeera TV has aired video purporting to show scars and wounds inflicted upon some of the prisoners, mostly Sunni Arabs, held at the Baghdad Interior Ministry facilty. Aljazeera has more.

3:16 PM ET – Some 625 detainees were found in the Interior Ministry facility; may were malnourished and showed signs or torture. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said he has ordered an investigation into the latest abuses. BBC News 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.