Ex-Guantanamo prisoners in Sudan demand compensation and apology News
Ex-Guantanamo prisoners in Sudan demand compensation and apology

[JURIST] A Sudanese aid worker formerly held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] was among a group of ex-prisoners that demanded money and an apology from the US government Saturday for physical and mental torture they say they were subjected to at the prison. Adil Hassan Hamad, freed last December [JURIST report], told a conference in Khartoum that he and his colleagues would seek damages in US courts. The conference was held by local rights groups to demand the release of the seven Sudanese still imprisoned at Guantanamo.

One of the remaining seven Sudanese prisoners is Al Jazeera [media website] journalist Sami al-Haj [advocacy website], arrested [CPJ report] in Pakistan in 2001 while traveling as a cameraman for Al Jazeera. He has been detained at Guantanamo for over five years without charge. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.