International Visitors
Developing nations, especially ones with emerging or fledgling democracies, look to America to study its institutions, laws and the ingenious balance of powers created by our Founding Fathers. Through various programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), delegates from these nations visit the United States and are put into contact with organizations like Judicial Watch. Since 2001, Judicial Watch has been a major participant in the Department of State’s IVLP and other leadership exchange programs, having received over 83 visiting delegations. As the premier Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigator in America today, Judicial Watch is one of the most sought after transparency and accountability organizations for personal meetings with emerging leaders from around the world who are interested in learning how they can stop corruption and demand accountability from their judges, government officials, and political parties.
The United Nations Department of Global Communications
The United Nations Department of Global Communications hosts monthly briefings and other workshops and an annual conference where representatives of NGOs from every corner of the world come together for the purpose of networking and collaborating on solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems, from security issues such as crime and violence, hunger and disease, persecution and war, to major development issues of education, job opportunities, and women’s empowerment.
Judicial Watch is associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC) as a nongovernmental organization whose mission is to promote transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. It fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations, and public outreach. Its International Program serves as an integral part of its educational program.
Judicial Watch GTMO Observer Program
Judicial Watch was granted observer status by the Pentagon to observe the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in June of 2008. Since the recommencement of the 9/11 hearings at Guantanamo Bay in November 2011, JW has attended 95 percent of the hearings held at the detention facility, as well as Periodic Review Board Proceedings (PRBs) currently held at the Pentagon. Judicial Watch staff and representatives have attended and monitored over 213 hearings to date.
See ARCHIVE section HERE.
Hearing Summaries
Military Commissions, Sentencing Procedures:
ISN 10026 Abd Al Hadi Al Iraqi,
June 10-14, 2024
On June 10, 2024, the military judge began the sentencing procedures for ISN 10026 Abd Al Hadi Al Iraqi, referred to by the defense as Al Tamir.
The judge provided the prosecution and defense with drafts of his trial guidance and worksheets, ensuring that Hadi understood the procedures and his rights concerning them, admitting one prosecution rebuttal declaration concerning the impact any torture may have had on Hadi’s mental health, admitting one defense surrebuttal, and refusing one defense surrebuttal on the same. The judge outlined the witness procedures which will have government witnesses sitting in the observers’ gallery unless they will be testifying.
The proceedings closed one hour and sixteen minutes after coming to order. A closed session was held in the afternoon to discuss the defense’s decision to include classified information in the defense statements to the sentencing panel members, which will necessitate session closures.
June 12 and 13 were set aside for the voir dire of potential panel members. The members selected to be part of the sentencing panel were numbers 2, 3, 5, 9, 12, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, and 22. Several of the members have been on military judiciary panels before, or have been notified that they were in the pool for potential offering to a panel, but none have served on a Military Commissions panel before.
June 14 was filled with testimony by government witnesses. Several were family members of a U.S. warfighter who was killed by an improvised explosive device plot to which Hadi has pled guilty, one was a Canadian warfighter who survived an improvised explosive device attack to which Hadi has pled guilty, and several were U.S. warfighters and contractors who survived vehicle-born improvised explosive devices to which Hadi has pled guilty. One had been a prior expert witness in another case and showed signs of trauma avoidance behavior, tending to drift toward a discussion of his knowledge when the questions raised too many emotions, drawing repeated objections from the defense.
On June 14, the court recessed at lunchtime for the weekend. The judge ordered the panel members to read the defense case evidence over the weekend. The defense indicated their intention to start with Hadi’s unsworn statement on Monday morning. The judge stated his intention to conclude all prosecution, defense, rebuttal, and surrebuttal within four working days, to allow panel members to deliberate over Wednesday and return a sentencing recommendation on Friday. The defense requested a longer sentencing process be planned in expectation that Hadi’s pain medication schedule would interfere with full days of argument.
Observations:
This sentencing process saw more panel candidates disqualified during voir dire than any of the other Military Commissions sentencing processes to date. Because the charges that ISN 10026 Hadi faces primarily concern his attacks and conspiracies to attack U.S. and Coalition warfighters, rather than attacks on civilians, the panel members who are all drawn from the U.S. armed forces can more easily be shown to hold implied biases or actual biases.
See ARCHIVE for full summary
In the Media
The Hill published the following article by Thomas Wheatley, a participant in Judicial Watch’s GTMO Observer Program.
“Trump, honor Obama’s agreement to release Guantanamo detainee,”
The Hill, October 4, 2017About Thomas Wheatley, https://www2.gmu.edu/news/424386
International Visitors and United Nations DGC Briefing
- 2018
- 2017
- Summary of UN Event: The Trade in Minors in the Digital Age – September 28, 2017
- 2016
- Countries represented by international visitors to Judicial Watch in 2016:
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Albania, Czech Republic, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Togo, Finland, Georgia, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Kuwait, Lesotho, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Vietnam, and South Sudan
- United Nation’s Commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons – September
- Observance of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests – August
- Summary of Meeting with North Africa and the Near East Delegation – February
- 2015
- Wrap up for 2015
- Countries represented by international visitors to Judicial Watch in 2015:
Macedonia, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH),Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Algeria Brunei, Croatia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Lithuania, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Venezuela
- Summary of Meeting with Macedonian Delegation – July
- UNESCO Event Summary SREBRENICA – July
- 2014
- Wrap up for 2014
- Countries represented by international visitors to Judicial Watch in 2014:
China, Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Republic of Kosovo, Moldova, Netherlands, Serbia, , Kenya, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras
- Western Hemisphere – September
- 65th UN DPI/NGO Conference – August
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- Croatia
- India and Bhutan
- UN-DPI, Washington, DC – “Rediscovering Preventive Diplomacy for Peace in the World’s Hotspots: A View from the United Nations”
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Vietnam
- French Counterterrorism Officials
- 2009
- 2008
- Thailand
- Multi-Regional Delegation – The US Judicial System – Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burma, Timor-Leste, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nigeria, Malawi, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, People’s Republic of China, South Africa
- France
- 11 Latin American Countries – Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela
- 2007
- 2006
- Croatia – Law Enforcement and the Judiciary
- Tanzania
- France- French Ministry of Justice
- The Multi-Regional Project
- Italy
- Ukraine
- France
- Kyrgyzstan
- Cambodia
- Croatia
- Fulbright Fellows
- The Sun Shines in Over 60 Countries Worldwide
- 2005
- 2004
- Latvia
- West Africa delegation
- Czech Republic
- Ghana
- 2003
- Brazil
- Russia
- Republic of China
- 2002
- Japan
- Turkey
- 2001
- Moldova
