International Conference on the Prevention of Torture and Other lll-Treatment
Monday, Februrary 23, 2009
American University Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016
Room 602
Sponsored by the American University Washington College of Law and the Association for the Prevention of Torture
8:30 - 9:00am: Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 9:20am: Opening Remarks
WCL Dean and Professor of Law Claudio Grossman, Chair, UN Committee Against Torture
Mark Thomson (pictured above, center) , Secretary General of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
9:30-11:10am: Panel 1, Are Adequate Legal Frameworks in Place at the Domestic Level?
The Protection Provided by International Law: Professor Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Challenging Impunity: WCL Professor Diane Orentlicher (pictured above, left)
Domestic Incorporation of Obligations under the Convention against Torture: Ambassador Luis Gallegos, UN Committee against Torture, and Dean Claudio Grossman
Torture as a Specific Criminal Offense in Domestic Laws: Matt Pollard, Legal Advisor, Amnesty International
Moderator: WCL Professor Rick Wilson
11:20-1:00pm: Panel 2, How are Laws Applied and Detention Practices Reformed?
Litigation: Taking Cases and those Responsible to Court: Steven Watt, Senior Attorney, ACLU Human Rights Program
Advocacy and Campaigning against Torture: James Ross, Legal and Policy Director, Human Rights Watch
Reforming Interrogation Practices: Eugene Fidell, President, National Institute of Military Justice
Public Perceptions and the Role of the Media: David Danzig, Public Programs Department and Primetime Torture Project Director, Human Rights First
Moderator: Joao Nataf, Acting Secretary of the UN Committee Against Torture
1:00-2:15 Luncheon
2:30-4:15pm: Panel 3, Transparency and Access of Independent Experts to All Places of Detention
Oversight Practices of US Juvenile Facilities: Judge H. Ted Rubin, Consultant, Juvenile Courts and Justice Systems
Experience in Latin America: Santiago Canton, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Expectations of the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, the National Preventative Mechanisms, and the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture: Dean Malcolm Evans, Bristol University Law Faculty
Health-Related Considerations: Nora Sveaass, Vice Chair, UN Committee against Torture
Follow-Up Procedures: Felice Gaer, UN Committee against Torture
Moderator: Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director, Center for Justice and International Law
4:15-4:45pm: Concluding Remarks
Dean Claudio Grossman
Mark Thomson, APT Secretary General