UM Law's International and Foreign Graduate Programs host a seminar on the first U.S. prosecution of a foreign leader for torture under the Anti-Torture Act
On September 5th, UM Law’s International and Foreign Graduate Programs and the World Organization for Human Rights, hosted a seminar to discuss the issues in the trial of the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor taking place in Miami. About 40 students were in attendance including J.D. and Comparative LL.M. students, as well as students from Florida International University.
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| (L-R) Prof. Schnably, Theresa Harris, Jessica Carvalho Morris, Prof. Iglesias, and Prof. Bascuas. |
UM Law Professors Elizabeth Iglesias, Ricardo Bascuas, and Stephen Schnably conducted the seminar along with Theresa Harris, deputy director of the World Organization for Human Rights USA. Jessica Carvalho Morris, director of the Law School’s International and Foreign Graduate Programs, was the moderator.
Students observed a few hours of the trial and had the opportunity to post comments on a blog for the attorneys handling Former President Charles Taylor’s prosecution in the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague.
About the case:
On September 15, 2008, the first trial for the federal crime of torture will begin in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. USA v. Roy Belfast is a landmark case in domestic human rights implementation and in criminal prosecution. This is the first indictment the United States has ever brought under the criminal statute implementing the United Nations Convention Against Torture, 18 U.S.C. 2340A.
The defendant, the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, is under indictment for committing torture in Liberia while he was head of that country’s Anti-Terrorism Unit. As the defendant was an official of a foreign government at the time the incidents with which he is charged took place and the alleged crimes took place outside of the United States, the litigation of this trial will include intriguing issues of international and constitutional law. Already, the pre-trial litigation has raised questions regarding the extraterritorial jurisdiction of U.S. courts, the constitutional authority of Congress to criminalize acts committed abroad, Congress’ obligation to implement the obligations of a ratified human rights treaty, and the definition of torture in U.S. and international law.
Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga will preside over the trial. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida is conducting the prosecution and the defendant is being represented by the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida.
Click here to view more photos from the event.
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posted 10-September-2008
