US accused of ignoring Russia human rights abuses News
US accused of ignoring Russia human rights abuses

[JURIST] Human rights observers have accused the US of ignoring a deteriorating situation in Russia, including crackdowns on the media and overreach of executive power. Mark Medish, a spokesman for the independent Council on Foreign Relations, told the US Commission on International Religious Freedom [official website; press release] Wednesday that "a democratic government is not a priority" for US-Russian relations and that the Russian government "receives too little engagement and too little criticism generally from this administration". Other commentators complained that while President Bush mentioned the Beslan school hostage crisis [BBC timeline] during the State of the Union address [full text] this week, he neglected to include Russia as a country with problematic human rights conditions. AFP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US suffragists formed Equal Rights Party, named Presidential candidate

On September 20, 1884, a group of American suffragists formed the Equal Rights Party in San Francisco, dedicated to "equal and exact justice to every class of our citizens, without distinction of color, sex, or nationality" and in support of the proposition that "the laws of the several states be so amended that women will be recognized as voters, and their property-rights made equal with that of the male population, to the end that they may become self-supporting - rather than a dependent class." Read the full text of the first platform of the Equal Rights Party. The party immediately nominated Mrs. Belva Lockwood for US President and Marietta Snow for Vice-President. Grover Cleveland won that election, but Lockwood was included in a number of presidential primaries and is recorded to have won some 4149 votes from the male voters of the time.

Catholic Church tries Galileo for heresy

On September 20, 1633, the Roman Catholic Church tried Galileo Galilei on charges of heresy. Galileo was brought before the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith for his assertion that the Earth orbits the Sun. He was sentenced to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. Read documents from the trial of Galileo.

Suffragists formed Equal Rights Party, named Presidential candidate

On September 20, 1884, a group of suffragists formed the Equal Rights Party in San Francisco, dedicated to "equal and exact justice to every class of our citizens, without distinction of color, sex, or nationality" and in support of the proposition that "the laws of the several states be so amended that women will be recognized as voters, and their property-rights made equal with that of the male population, to the end that they may become self-supporting - rather than a dependent class."
Read the full text of the first platform of the Equal Rights Party.

The party immediately nominated Mrs. Belva Lockwood for US President and Marietta Snow for Vice-President. Grover Cleveland won that election, but Lockwood was included in a number of presidential primaries, and is recorded to have won some 4149 votes from the male voters of the time.