Pro-Tibet protesters rally at Nepal UN building News
Pro-Tibet protesters rally at Nepal UN building

[JURIST] Over 100 protesters rallied near a United Nations facility in Kathmandu on Friday, demonstrating against China's recent crackdown on pro-Tibet protests [BBC backgrounder]. Nepalese police arrested around 60 protesters, while about 20 others, reportedly Tibetan high school students, scaled the walls of the compound and peacefully demonstrated inside. Police asked for the group inside the compound to be handed over, but UN officials refused. Those arrests followed the arrest of at least 400 protesters Monday and 50 more [JURIST reports] last week near the UN headquarters in Kathmandu. AP has more. The New York Times has additional coverage.

In a related development, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal [official website] released a report [PDF text; press release, PDF] on Friday summarizing human rights concerns arising from protests in the Terai region of Nepal last month by ethnic Madhesis who accuse the Nepalese government of treating them as second-class citizens. The report accused Nepalese police of sometimes using excessive force to quell protests, saying:

…the policing of the protests raised serious human rights concerns, particularly relating to the use of force by police, including lethal force. The enforcement of the bandh affected the freedom of movement of the population, but OHCHR was also concerned at allegations of police actions that violated individuals' rights to freedom of assembly and movement.

The UN News Centre has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism

November 9 is the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism [UNITED factsheet]. On November 9, 1924, American gay activist Henry Gerber and several associates formed the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States. The Society received a charter from the State of Illinois in December but was disbanded in July 1925 after a police raid which led to Gerber's arrest and trial (albeit not conviction). Pay a virtual visit to Henry Gerber House, now a registered Chicago landmark.

Supreme Court strikes down Massachusetts anti-draft law

On November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of the state's anti-draft law. Massachusetts had passed a law, which allowed its citizens to decline to fight in any undeclared war, even if the person was drafted. The law was passed in opposition to the draft and the war in Vietnam. The First Circuit found the war constitutional and thus struck down the law.