Legal Frontiers University of Bristol

To wrap up this extraordinary series, we look at the prospects for closing Guantánamo, the need for mechanisms that hold States accountable for their crimes - and what the facility’s legacy means for international human rights. For the last time, criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans come together to discuss how the United States of America ignored international human rights treaties – and what can be learnt from the role the University of Bristol's Human Rights implementation Centre already plays in reducing incidence of torture around the world.

4.Guantánamo Bay – Closing the door?

Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, Co-Director of The Human Rights Implementation Centre and the former Chair of the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, hosts this series which explores the shameful 20th anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention camp, discussing its impact and its legacy with former prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

In this episode:

For our fourth and final episode, Malcolm is joined by Nancy Hollander - an internationally recognised  criminal defence lawyer who represented former Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi.

Mohamedou was incarcerated at the naval base after being accused of involvement in planning the September 11 atrocities. He was one of the facility's first inmates. Here, Mohamedou endured years of torture, including assault, being blasted with heavy metal music and strobe lighting, and deprived of sleep for 70 days. Malcolm and Nancy discuss what closing Guantánamo looks like, the need for mechanisms that hold States accountable for their crimes – and the need for Guantánamo to not become a shield behind which others committing such acts can hide.

Further Reading/Viewing:

Guantánamo, torture and the mechanisms for change – bristol.ac.uk/research-guantanamo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we mark the shameful 20th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay, the third episode in this series asks if torture works. We hear, first hand, from Mohamedou Ould Slahi who reflects on what pain and fear meant to his perception of truth. His criminal defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, extend the conversation to discuss how such a barbaric approach was possible in Guantánamo, in the 21st Century. 

3.Guantánamo Bay – Does torture work?

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of torture and so listener discretion is advised.  

Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, Co-Director of The Human Rights Implementation Centre and the former Chair of the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, hosts this series which explores the shameful 20th anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention camp, discussing its impact and its legacy with former prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

In this episode:

Part 1- We hear extracts from a talk held at the University of Bristol Law School's Human Right's Implementation Centre in March 2022 featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi - a Mauritanian citizen who was detained at the camp for 14 years without charge trial and Nancy Hollander - an internationally recognised criminal defence lawyer who represented Mohamedou while he was at Guantánamo.

Part 2 - Nancy joins Malcolm to reflect on Mohamedou’s experience, discussing whether torture works, whether evidence gleaned by such methods can even be used – and why, if international human rights treaties demands that no-one shall be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment without exception, was it possible in Guantánamo?

Further Reading/Viewing:

Guantánamo, torture and the mechanisms for change – bristol.ac.uk/research-guantanamo
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered what representing someone detained in a facility synonymous with secrecy and deception would be like? In the second episode of this series, we delve into the realities of striving for truth as a Guantánamo lawyer. Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, former chair of the UNs Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture, joins Nancy Hollander, the Guantánamo lawyer who represented Mohamedou Ould Slahi whilst he was detained there for 14 years without charge.

2.Guantánamo Bay - Being a Guántanamo Lawyer

Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, co-Director of The Human Rights Implementation Centre and the former Chair of the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, hosts this series which explores the shameful 20th anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention camp, discussing its impact and its legacy with former prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

In this episode:

Part 1- We hear extracts from a talk held at the University of Bristol Law School's Human Right's Implementation Centre in March 2022 featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi-  a Mauritanian citizen who was detained at the camp for 14 years without charge trial and Nancy Hollander - an internationally recognised criminal defense lawyer who represented Mohamedou while he was at Guantánamo.

Part 2 - Nancy joins Malcolm to reflect on what we have just heard to discuss further how she got involved in representing Mohamedou, what she thought when she first read his words about the treatment he was experiencing there  - and how, little by little, she uncovered the truth about what was going on in Guantanamo.

Further Reading/Viewing:

Guantánamo, torture and the mechanisms for change – www.bristol.ac.uk/research-guantanamo

 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kicking off this extraordinary series, we hear first-hand from Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Detained at Guantánamo for 14 years without charge, he exposed the use of torture at the facility, smuggling out facts about his experience in letters to his lawyer. Nancy Hollander represented Mohamedou during this time and joins Professor Sir Malcolm Evans to extend the conversations started with Mohamedou at a University of Bristol event that marked 20 shameful years of Guantánamo, and discuss her role in sharing the story that helped secure his freedom.

1.Guantánamo Bay – A prisoner’s story

Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, co-Director of The Human Rights Implementation Centre and the former Chair of the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, hosts this series which explores the shameful 20th anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention camp, discussing its impact and its legacy with former prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

In this episode:

Part 1- We hear extracts from a talk held at the University of Bristol Law School's Human Right's Implementation Centre in March 2022 featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi -  a Mauritanian citizen who was detained at the camp for 14 years without charge trial and Nancy Hollander - an internationally recognised  criminal defense lawyer who represented Mohamedou while he was at Guantánamo.

Part 2 - Nancy joins Malcolm to reflect on what we have just heard and examine Mohammedou’s experience of writing his book Guantánamo Diary, and her role in helping smuggle out the first and only memoir by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee. The book, published in 2015, was adapted into the film 'The Mauritanian' in 2021. The transcript was smuggled out by Mohamedou via Nancy in the form of correspondence with his legal counsel

Further Reading/Viewing:

Guantánamo, torture and the mechanisms for change – www.bristol.ac.uk/research-guantanamo

 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.