Greek case

Greek case.
The Greek case was brought to the European Commission of Human Rights in September 1967. It alleged violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by the Greek junta, which had come to power in a coup and launched widespread political repression. A second case alleging additional violations, including of Article 3 forbidding torture, was added in 1968. In 1968 and 1969, a subcommission questioned witnesses and embarked on a fact-finding mission to Greece. Their report proving systematic torture was leaked to the press and turned European public opinion against Greece. On 12 December 1969, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe considered a resolution to expel Greece. To save face, foreign minister Panagiotis Pipinelis (pictured) denounced the ECHR and walked out. Greece returned to the organization after the Greek democratic transition in 1974. The case was influential as a precedent in human rights jurisprudence, especially for the legal definition of torture.

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Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia

Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia.
The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was a republic within the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union that existed from 1921 to 1931. Formed in the aftermath of the Red Army invasion of Georgia in February 1921, it was independent until December, when a treaty united it with the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1931 it was replaced with the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within Georgia. Abkhazia was a major tobacco producer in this era, growing over half of the Soviet Union's supply. It also produced tea, wine, and citrus fruits, and became one of the wealthiest regions in the country. Its sub-tropical climate made it a prime holiday destination; Joseph Stalin and other Soviet leaders had dachas in the region and spent considerable time there. An ethnically diverse region, Abkhazia was nominally led by the Abkhaz people, who made up less than 30 percent of the population. Other major groups included Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, and Russians.

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Quelccaya Ice Cap

Quelccaya Ice Cap.
The Quelccaya Ice Cap (also known as the Quenamari Ice Cap) is the second-largest glaciated area in the tropics, after Coropuna. Located in the Cordillera Oriental in Peru's Andes, it covers an area of 42.8 square kilometres (16.5 sq mi) with ice up to 200 metres (660 ft) thick. It is surrounded by tall ice cliffs and a number of outlet glaciers, the largest of which is known as Qori Kalis Glacier. Quelccaya is an important source of water, eventually nourishing the Inambari and Vilcanota Rivers. It is regularly monitored and has a weather station. Quelccaya was much larger in the past, merging with neighbouring glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch. After reaching a secondary highstand (area expansion) during the Little Ice Age, Quelccaya has been shrinking due to human-caused climate change. Models predict that without aggressive climate mitigation measures, Quelccaya is likely to disappear during the 21st or 22nd century.

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Whitehawk Camp

Whitehawk Camp.
Whitehawk Camp is the remains of a causewayed enclosure, on Whitehawk Hill near Brighton, England. Causewayed enclosures are a form of early Neolithic earthwork, characterized by the enclosure of an area with ditches that are interrupted by gaps, or causeways. Their purpose is not known. The site consists of four roughly concentric circular ditches; at least two ditches touch the outermost circuit from the outside, one of which is thought to date to about two thousand years after the earliest dated activity at the site. Whitehawk was first excavated in 1929 and again in the winter of 1932–1933. In 1935 the area to be crossed by a new road was excavated. In 1991, during the construction of a housing development, a ditch was discovered and excavated. In 2011, an analysis of radiocarbon dates concluded that the Neolithic part of the site was probably constructed between 3650 and 3500 BC, and probably went out of use some time between 3500 and 3400 BC.