US will not become party to anti-personnel landmine treaty News
US will not become party to anti-personnel landmine treaty

[JURIST] The US State Department (DOS) stated [press release] Tuesday that the US will not be signing the treaty [text; JURIST news archive] to ban the use of anti-personnel landmines. The announcement comes a week before the Second Review Conference [official website] the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction is set to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. For the first time, the US will send a delegation of humanitarian landmine observers to the conference. A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] expressed disappointment in the decision not to sign the treaty, but also welcomed [Reuters report] the presence of the observers as a possible sign of progress. To date 156 countries have signed the treaty [advocacy website], while 39, including China, Russia and India, have not.

Last year, the Bush Administration decided against [JURIST report] adopting the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) [text]. More than 100 countries have adopted the convention [JURIST report], but major users of cluster munitions, including Russia and China, have not. While the US did not adopt the ban, claiming it would impede humanitarian efforts [JURIST report]by discouraging cooperation with non-signatories, it did adopt a formal policy [text,PDF] on cluster munitions "intended to minimize the potential unintended harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure."

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.