The Open Society Institute, the Consitution Project, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund sponsored a lunchtime panel discussion to mark President Obama's deadline for closing the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, which he set by Executive Order one year earlier, on his second day in office.
The discussion examines the obstacles preventing the president from fulfilling his promise, when and how Guantánamo is likely to close, and the impact of the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing on the politics of closing the detention facility. The discussion illuminates why it is essential that America comply with the rule of law as it continues its efforts to close Guantánamo.
Panelists
- Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker (moderator)
- Stephen Abraham, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), U.S. Army Intelligence Corps (Reserves)
- Honorable John Coughenour, Federal District Court, Seattle, WA, who presided over the 2005 trial of Ahmed Ressam, known as the Millennium Bomber
- Talat Hamdani, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
- Shane Kadidal, Senior Managing Attorney, Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative, Center for Constitutional Rights
- Celeste Koeleveld, Chief of the Criminal Division, Chief Appellate Attorney, and Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York (1991-2008)
Location
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115
Video
Complete video of the event is available at FORA.tv
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