Forum to mark a year after the Abu Ghraib discovery, 5/3

[paineinthearse]

Tuesday, May 3, 6:30 pm
(preceded by a 4:30 pm Protest Vigil, organized by Amnesty International)
Faneuil Hall

http://www.dw-world.de/dwelle/allgemein/bilder_show/0,3772,109149_7,00.jpg

Ford Hall Forum's Spring Series of Free Public Lectures continues with:

Torture and Detention: Is This The American Way?
with
Barbara Olshansky
(senior attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and
author of Secret Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy)
Steve Oleskey
(attorney for six Guantanamo detainees)
and
Erik Saar
(former Army translator at Guantanamo Bay and
co-author of Inside the Wire, a book describing abuses at the U.S. base)
Discussion moderated by
Joshua Rubenstein
(Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA)
Co-sponsored with the U.S. Northeast regional office of Amnesty International USA
Sabiha Delic-Ait Idir and Emina Lahmar
(wives of prisoners detained in Bosnia and Guantanamo Bay)]

Tuesday, May 3, 6:30 pm
(preceded by a 4:30 pm Protest Vigil, organized by Amnesty International)
Faneuil Hall


(Boston, MA) Ford Hall Forum presents Torture and Detention: Is This The American Way? with Barbara Olshansky (senior attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of Secret Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy), Steve Oleskey (attorney for six Guantanamo detainees) and Erik Saar (former Army translator at Guantanamo Bay and co-author of Inside the Wire, a book describing abuses at the US base). Discussion moderated by Joshua Rubenstein (Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International USA). Co-sponsored with the U.S. Northeast Regional Office of Amnesty International USA. Tuesday, May 3, at 6:30 pm; Indoor presentation followed by an open discussion. Admission: free and open to all. Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Boston, MA. Conveniently located near the State St. and Government Center stops on the MBTA. For information call Ford Hall Forum 617-373-5800 or visit www.fordhallforum.neu.edu.

Held a year after the release of photos showing Americans torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, Torture and Detention: Is This The American Way? will discuss how illegal detention and torture are still taking place and what can be done to stop it. Join Barbara Olshansky, Steve Oleskey, and Erik Saar as they share their experiences of working with detainees and trying to end this abuse.

Barbara Olshansky is an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. She has co-authored or authored the following: Secret Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy, about America's "war on terror" detainees; America's Disappeared, about the military commissions planned for Guantanamo detainees; and Against War With Iraq, about what she considers the Bush administration's unlawful preemptive strike justification. She is currently suing the US government in several cases, including one challenging the detention and arrest of Arab and Muslim immigrants and visitors in the wake of September 11th and one seeking to hold defense contractors working in Iraq for the government responsible for the torture and abuse of Iraqi citizens.

Steve Oleskey is a senior partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Boston. He is an attorney for six Guantanamo detainees who were abducted from Bosnia by plain-clothed U.S. Forces in unmarked vehicles after a Bosnian court refused to hold them prisoner. Oleskey has visited his clients in Guantanamo Bay.

Erik Saar is a former Army translator at Guantanamo Bay and co-author of Inside the Wire, a book describing abuses at the US base. The book is scheduled for release on May 2nd. Saar made headlines earlier this year with allegations that female interrogators at the base used sexually explicit tactics violating Muslim taboos, such as rubbing their bodies against male prisoners and wearing skimpy and tight-fitting clothes, to humiliate detainees.

Sabiha Delic-Ait Idir is the wife Mustafa Ait Idir, an Algerian detainee in Guantanamo. Mustafa was detained in Bosnia where he lives along with five other Algerian citizens. After an imprisonment of several months, the Bosnian government concluded there was no evidence that the men were guilty of anything. As they were leaving detention, masked people in unmarked cars forcibly carried them off and brought them to an airbase from where they were taken out of the country. The US never claimed responsibility, though the Algerians are now in Guantanamo Bay. Mustafa claims that while a prisoner of the US he has been sprayed with pepper spray without provocation, has had his testicles squeezed to the point of excruciating pain and has had a finger purposely broken. He says other fingers were bent almost to the point of breaking. Sabiha will be accompanied by Emina Lahmar, whose husband, Saber Lahmar, was also detained in Bosnia and sent to Guantanamo Bay.

About Amnesty International:
Founded in London in 1961, Amnesty International is a Nobel Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with over 1.8 million members worldwide. Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and _expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights. Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is the U.S. Section of Amnesty International.
http://www.amnestyusa.org.

About Ford Hall Forum:
Established in 1908, Ford Hall Forum's charter is to provide education to all. Recognizing that a democracy can only work if its citizens are informed about current issues and participate in a public process, the Ford Hall Forum continues its long tradition of providing opportunities for individuals to examine our world within the context of a broad range of ideas. To this day, the Forum continues to charge no admission to its programs.
http://www.fordhallforum.neu.edu