UN commission suspects criminal network responsible for Hariri killing News
UN commission suspects criminal network responsible for Hariri killing

[JURIST] A criminal network may have been responsible for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri [JURIST news archive], the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) [authorizing resolution; UN materials] said Friday. In a press briefing [recorded audio] on its latest report [PDF text], the IIIC said that this network continued to operate after the assassination and may be involved with other attacks in Lebanon.

Hariri was killed in February 2005 by a car bomb in Beirut which killed 22 others. The IIIC was formed [JURIST report] in 2005 after the UN found that Lebanon's earlier investigations were not carried out to acceptable standards. It also found that Syrian influence was responsible for creating the political tension that preceded the assassination. The UN is currently is the process of establishing a tribunal [JURIST report; UN materials] to try those suspected in the murder. BBC News 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.