UN concerns over Saddam trial mount as Iraqis stymie planned rocket attack on court News
UN concerns over Saddam trial mount as Iraqis stymie planned rocket attack on court

[JURIST] A United Nations human rights official said Sunday that the trial of Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will never be able to satisfy international standards, citing recent attacks on defense lawyers [JURIST report] and flaws in the Iraqi justice system. John Pace, human rights chief at the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq [official website], said there has been a "paralysis in the legitimacy of the defense" since the lawyers have not been able to work freely and effectively in order for the trial to be fair, and also questioned delays in the trial process [JURIST report] which has only included two brief hearings to date. The UN is not involved in the trial and many rights groups have called for the Saddam trial to be heard in an international war crimes court like those for Rwanda and Yugoslavia [JURIST news archives], but the US opposes such a forum. Pace also expressed serious concern over the detentions of Iraqis in both US and Iraqi prison facilities, including the discovery of a Interior Ministry bunker [JURIST report] where 173 underfed detainees showing signs of torture were found last month. Pace said that any prisoners being held in facilities not operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Justice [Global Security backgrounder] are technically being held illegally, including the detainees in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive], because the prisoners have no "real recourse to protection." Reuters has more.

Meanwhile, Iraq's national security advisor said Sunday that Iraqi officials have intercepted a plot by the Sunni-led 1920 Revolution Brigades to launch rockets at the court building when Saddam's trial resumes on Monday [JURIST report]. AP 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.