Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Pennsylvania Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law invite you to attend “Reclaiming the Rule of Law: Guantánamo’s Forever Prisoners and the Fate of Liberal Democracy” on Wednesday, April 27 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The rule of law is under global assault. America ought to be its champion, but the legacy of Guantánamo and its forever prisoners, scarred by torture and held for decades without trial, has corroded our country’s credibility as its defender. This event will present new revelations about the origins of America’s post-9/11 torture program and the shocking lawlessness and lapses in professionalism that made it possible. It will also offer a bipartisan roadmap toward Guantanamo’s closure, as well as a look at lessons learned from America’s misadventure in torture. Some of these lessons, speakers will report, are now being put into effect in Ukraine as that country investigates mass-scale war crimes.
Event Program:
Welcome and Introduction: Professionalism and the Rule of Law
Gregg Bloche, M.D., Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Health Law, Policy, and Ethics, Georgetown University Law Center
Opening Remarks: The Guantanamo Debacle: Cost and Consequence
Alberto Mora, Associate Executive Director for Global Programs, American Bar Association and Director, ABA Rule-of-Law Initiative; former U.S. Navy General Counsel; ; CERL Executive Board Member
Guest Remarks (live from Kyiv, Ukraine): War-Crimes Update from the Battlefield
Yuriy Belousov, Head of Department, Counterreaction to Human Rights Violations, Office of the Prosecutor General, Ukraine – Mendez Principles Advisory Council
Showing of Clips from The Forever Prisoner
Introduced by Cathy Scott-Clark, author and producer
Panel Discussions (Moderated by M. Gregg Bloche)
Truth Held Captive:
Cathy Scott-Clark, Author, The Forever Prisoner (Grove Atlantic, 2022); Producer, The Forever Prisoner (HBO, 2021)
Mark Fallon, Interim Executive Director, Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at University of Pennsylvania; former NCIS Deputy Assistant Director, Chief Investigator, Guantanamo Military Commissions, Author, Unjustifiable Means (ReganArts 2017)
Professional Ethics Abandoned:
Susan Brandon, Former Research PM – High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
Jack Cloonan, Former FBI special agent – Bin Laden Unit
Colleen Kelly, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Elisa Massimino, Executive Director Human Rights Institute, Georgetown University Law Center
Charles A. Morgan, M.D. (Former Intel Officer – CIA Behavioral Science Staff)