Defining Torture – Historical and Present Day Use
A panel discussion focusing on the history and human face of torture and its use in modern day counter-intelligence will be held Thursday, April 5, 2007, between 6:00-8:30 p.m. in the Wilkins Moot Courtroom at the UC Davis School of Law.
The event, hosted by the National Lawyers Guild, is intended to help give meaning to the word "torture," and to put the current debate on extraordinary rendition, detainee treatment, and interrogation tactics in the war on terror into a global and historical context.
Participants include:
Professor Alfred McCoy: The J.R.W. Small Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his recent book, A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror, Professor McCoy "uncovers the deep, disturbing roots of public scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Far from aberrations... A Question of Torture shows that these abuses are the result of a long standing covert program of interrogation."
Professor Carlos Mauricio: Torture survivor and advocate with the Center for Justice and Accountability and the School of the Americas Watch. Mr. Mauricio was a professor of biology in El Salvador when in 1983 he was abducted from the classroom and tortured by military authorities. He fled to the United States, where he later sued his torturers under the Alien Tort Statute and won. He currently works to bring an end to impunity and to stop governments from utlitizing torture.
Attorney Shayana Kadidal: (Participating by Video Conference) Mr. Kadidal is an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). The CCR has been in the forefront of legal efforts to challenge the use of torture from within the United States. In the 1980s, the CCR was a leader in the use of the Alien Tort Statute as a means by which to hold governments civilly liable for the torture of their citizens. Currently, the CCR is in the forefront of the attempt to provide legal representation to those detained at Guantanamo, and to end the use of extraordinary rendition.
The event is co-sponsored by the UC Davis School of Law Dean's Office, the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas, and the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas.
Light Refreshments will be provided.
Copies of A Question of Torture will be available for purchase.
For further information, contact Katie Ruhl
The event, hosted by the National Lawyers Guild, is intended to help give meaning to the word "torture," and to put the current debate on extraordinary rendition, detainee treatment, and interrogation tactics in the war on terror into a global and historical context.
Participants include:
Professor Alfred McCoy: The J.R.W. Small Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his recent book, A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror, Professor McCoy "uncovers the deep, disturbing roots of public scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Far from aberrations... A Question of Torture shows that these abuses are the result of a long standing covert program of interrogation."
Professor Carlos Mauricio: Torture survivor and advocate with the Center for Justice and Accountability and the School of the Americas Watch. Mr. Mauricio was a professor of biology in El Salvador when in 1983 he was abducted from the classroom and tortured by military authorities. He fled to the United States, where he later sued his torturers under the Alien Tort Statute and won. He currently works to bring an end to impunity and to stop governments from utlitizing torture.
Attorney Shayana Kadidal: (Participating by Video Conference) Mr. Kadidal is an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). The CCR has been in the forefront of legal efforts to challenge the use of torture from within the United States. In the 1980s, the CCR was a leader in the use of the Alien Tort Statute as a means by which to hold governments civilly liable for the torture of their citizens. Currently, the CCR is in the forefront of the attempt to provide legal representation to those detained at Guantanamo, and to end the use of extraordinary rendition.
The event is co-sponsored by the UC Davis School of Law Dean's Office, the Hemispheric Institute on the Americas, and the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas.
Light Refreshments will be provided.
Copies of A Question of Torture will be available for purchase.
For further information, contact Katie Ruhl