Romania parliamentarians call for probe of CIA prison claims News
Romania parliamentarians call for probe of CIA prison claims

[JURIST] The heads of Romania's parliament Tuesday announced plans to seek an inquiry into the reports that Romania hosted a secret CIA prison [JURIST report]. Meanwhile in Poland, identified as another European country that may have harbored a secret CIA facility for terror detainees, the Justice Ministry [official website] announced that it will not investigate those reports, which the Polish government has already denied. ABC News on Monday reported the relocation of 11 al-Qaeda suspects [JURIST report] from secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe to North Africa on the eve of the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Europe [JURIST report], during which she plans to address the allegations [JURIST report]. The report and the announcement follow pressure from the EU to conduct investigations into the allegations, including suspending voting rights [JURIST report] for nations that are found to have operated a secret prison. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org