Since October 2014, the Center has partnered with the Human Rights Institute to send law students as official observers to the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Students travel to Guantanamo for one week, leaving from Andrews Air Force Base. Students are selected from a pool, and the pool opens each year in September, and is only available to 2Ls, 3Ls, and LLMs. Interested students should be sure to join the National Security Law Society distribution list to hear of upcoming opportunities. This is a non-credit opportunity.

 

Photo of Allie Bohn L'17 visits Guantanamo Bay as an Official Observer

Allie Bohn L’17 visits Guantanamo Bay as an Official Observer.

GTMO Observer

"It was very rewarding to see the law of armed conflict I had studied at Georgetown being applied in real life at GTMO to the sorts of actors we discussed in class. It also provided a great learning experience in terms of trial lawyering, human rights, politics, and much more as the lawyers, law students, and other observers discussed the hearings and the commissions generally every day before and after court. And as an aspiring JAG it was a tremendous opportunity to see a unique and rare role that military lawyers take on, and to meet with the General overseeing the prosecution."