Events
Guantánamo, Yemen, and the London Meeting
January 19, 2010
Sarah Mendelson, along with the Center for American Progress, hosted a one-day meeting of policy experts, human rights advocates, and regional scholars to explore viable repatriation options for the remaining 91 Yemeni detainees held at Guantánamo.
The discussion included
1) an analysis of the situation on the ground in Yemen, including the al-Qaeda presence, the ongoing civil conflict, socioeconomic conditions, as well as security concerns;
2) a review of existing options for transferring Yemenis out of Guantánamo, including the creation of an internationally-funded and monitored reintegration and risk reduction initiative.
A policy memo was released Jan. 25, 2010.
Approaches to Accounting for Post-9/11 Counterterrorism Policies and Actions: The Pros and Cons
October 8, 2009
The United States has recently begun a debate about the need to account for policies and alleged crimes relating to counterterrorism since 9/11 and the best process for doing so: prosecution, commissions, Congressional investigation, general inquiry, something else altogether? Ambassador Tom Pickering, Vice Admiral Lee Gunn (retired), and Suzanne Spaulding led a discussion assessing these sensitive and timely issues. (Watch this event)
Presentation of "Closing Guantánamo: From Bumper Sticker to Blueprint"
February 5, 2009
Sarah Mendelson discussed the report of the CSIS working group on closing Guantánamo and President Obama’s executive order to do so with Cornell’s Peace Studies Program.
Closing Guantánamo: The Key Challenges and Choices Facing President-elect Obama
January 6, 2009
Sarah Mendelson joined Rudy deLeon (Center for American Progress), Ken Gude (Center for American Progress) and Elisa Massimino (Human Rights First) at the Center for American Progress for a public discussion of the challenges facing the Obama administration posed by the closure of Guantánamo Bay’s detention facility.
Effectively Interrogating Terrorism Suspects: Lessons from the Field – Senior Level Interrogators Discuss What Works
June 18, 2008
CSIS and Human Rights First hosted a discussion in which three interrogators with significant operational experience laid out opportunities for the United States to improve its ability to collect intelligence from high value detainees and other human sources.
