Obama’s Dilemma—Guantánamo and Its Aftermath

Panelists at this OSI event discussed policy questions arising from the incoming administration’s plans to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. They also examined the lasting effects suffered by former prisoners, the likelihood that human rights abuses committed at Guantánamo will be investigated and prosecuted, and the challenges the administration will face as it decides how to deal with the remaining detainees.

Panelists

• Laurel Fletcher is Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of Guantánamo and Its Aftermath: U.S. Detention and Interrogation Practices and Their Impact on Former Detainees.
• Jonathan Mahler is author of The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power and a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. Mahler was named a Soros Justice Fellow in 2007.
• Eric Stover is Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of Guantánamo and Its Aftermath.
• Jamil Dakwar (moderator) is Director of the Human Rights Program at the American Civil Liberties Union. He has observed numerous proceedings of the Guantánamo military commission system and has advocated for the closure of the detention facility.

Ann Beeson, Director of OSI U.S. Programs, introduced the event.