September 23, 2010
This is the second in a
series of events on torture. The first event
looked at torture from the perspective of U.S. soldiers who had
participated in torture, as well as an author who has written about the
subject. The second event on October 9th features those who have been
tortured, as well as a look at International Law on the issue of
torture. Veterans For Peace works to expose the true costs of war and
we hope that people in St. Louis will join us for the live event at Eden
Seminary, Press Education Center, Room 101 at 12 noon. It can also be
viewed online at
www.veteransforpeace.org.
- Phil Butler - Phil graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy,
class
of
1961. Flew the A4C with VA-22 aboard the USS Midway. On April 20, 1965
his aircraft went down over Vinh from malfunctioning VT fused bombs.
Spent 4 days and nights attempting to evade capture but was finally
tracked down by two well-trained german shepherd dogs. He was
repatriated
on February 12, 1973. He is also the author of "Three Lives of a
Warrior."
- Moazzam Begg -
Moazzam Begg was seized by the DIA in
Islamabad in
February of 2002. He was flown to the U.S. detention facility at
Kandahar then Bagram where he was held for a year before being
transferred to Guantanamo. He was labeled as an "enemy combatant" but
never charged with a crime. In all, Moazzam spent three years in
prison, much of it in solitary confinement. He was subjected to over
three hundred interrogations as well as death threats and torture. He
was released in January of 2005 along with three other British
citizens. He is the author of "Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at
Guantanamo, Bagram, and Kandahar." Begg will be joining us from
England
via web cast.
- Moderator: Jean Abbott - Jean is
Clinical
Director of the Center
for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma in St. Louis, Missouri. The
center provides free counseling for refugee and immigrant survivors of
torture and war trauma.
- International Law - Leigh Hunt Greenhaw - Professor Greenhaw brings varied experience in
practice, teaching and scholarship to her task. Before returning to St.
Louis, she was Associate-in-law for the Legal Methods course at Columbia
University, Director of Legal Writing at Vanderbilt University and
Associate Professor at Widener University. She has taught
Constitutional Law, Religion & the Constitution, First Amendment and
Appellate Practice; a semester as a visiting scholar at Macquarie
University School of Law in Australia stimulated her interest in
comparative constitutional law. She speaks and writes primarily on
issues concerning law and religion. Her most recent writing is with
Michael Koby of the Washington University faculty, Constitutional
Conversations and New Religious Movements: A Comparative Case Study, in
the 2005 VANDERBILT JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL LAW. She serves on the
boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri and the
Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls organization of St. Louis.