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The Peace Advocacy Coalition has organized an in-depth look at the use of Rendition, torture, and Guantanamo Bay after 9/11.

 U.S. government documents released through years of  litigation and advocacy by the ACLU show that after 9/11, many hundreds of people were abused or tortured by the CIA and Department of Defense, primarily in Afghanistan, Guantánamo, and Iraq, but also in other countries after unlawful rendition. Approximately 200 people died in U.S. custody, including at least a dozen during or shortly after interrogations. The records show that these illegal policies and actions were devised and approved at the highest levels of the Bush administration – but our nation has done little to make amends for the crimes committed, or to hold to account those who orchestrated the torture program.

The panel discussion will examine the history of these programs and also attempt to address the question what can we, as the American public, do to encourage the closing of Guantanamo and make sure that the U.S. never again engages in rendition and torture.

We hope that you will join us for this important dialogue.

 Panelists include:

David R. Irvine, an attorney, former U.S. Army brigadier general, and former Utah state legislator. Irvine enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1962, and received a direct commission in 1967 as a strategic intelligence officer. He maintained a faculty assignment for 18 years with the Sixth U.S. Army Intelligence School, teaching prisoner-of-war interrogation and military law and was the deputy commander for the 96th Regional Readiness Command. Irvine retired with the rank of brigadier general. In addition, Irvine served four terms in the Utah House of Representatives as a Republican legislator. He is currently an attorney in Salt Lake City in private practice and a member of The Constitutional Task Force Project.

Amos Guiora, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Global Justice at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Utah. Guiora who teaches Criminal Procedure, International Law, Global Perspectives on Counterterrorism and Religion and Terrorism incorporates innovative scenario-based instruction to address national and international security issues and dilemmas. Professor Guiora has published extensively both in the U.S. and Europe on issues related to national security, limits of interrogation, religion and terrorism, and the limits of power, multiculturalism and human rights. He is the author of Legitimate Target: A Criteria Based Approach to Targeted Killing; Freedom from Religion: Rights and National Security (first and second editions); Global Perspectives on Counterterrorism (first and second editions); Fundamentals of Counterterrorism; Constitutional Limits on Coercive Interrogation; Homeland Security: What is it and Where is it Going; Tolerating Intolerance: The Price of Protecting Extremism (Oxford University Press 2013) and Geopolitics and Security: Sovereignty, Intervention and the Law (Taylor & Francis 2013).He served for 19 years in the Israel Defense Forces as Lieutenant Colonel (retired), and held a number of senior command positions, including Commander of the IDF School of Military Law and Legal Advisor to the Gaza Strip

Rocky Anderson, a co-founder of the Justice Party and was its nominee for President in 2012. He founded High Road for Human Rights, where he served as Executive Director for almost four years after serving as Mayor of Salt Lake City from 2000-2008. Before serving as Mayor, he practiced law for 21 years and was listed in Best Lawyers in America. Through his advocacy, he expanded legal protections for consumers, investors, patients, incarcerated people, and other victims of corporate and governmental abuses of power.

During his years practicing law, he helped economically-disadvantaged people obtain access to the judicial system. He served as President of the boards of the Utah affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Penal Reform (which he founded), and Guadalupe Education Programs, and as a board member of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and Common Cause of Utah. He was also active in building opposition to U.S. foreign policy in Central America during the Reagan administration, and the Iraq War and the related human and civil rights atrocities during the Bush and Obama administrations. Rocky has devoted himself since leaving the Mayor's Office to educating, organizing, and mobilizing people at the grass roots level to push for effective action for economic, social, and environmental justice.

The discussion will be moderated by:

Leah Farrell, staff attorney for the ACLU of Utah. Leah joined the ACLU of Utah in August 2011 from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. She contributes to the ACLU of Utah's robust legal program in litigation, negotiation, and advocacy work. At the University of Texas, Leah was highly involved in public interest law and the law school's Justice Center, including work in the Human Rights, domestic violence, and community development. Prior to law, Leah worked in community outreach and the arts in New York City, NY. She is very happy to be back in her hometown of Salt Lake City and to work for civil liberties and civil rights in Utah. •

The Peace Advocacy Coalition include:

• The Barbara L. and Norman C. Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy, University of Utah • Gandhi Alliance for Peace • Center for Global Justice, University of Utah • The S. J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah • Hinckley Institute of Politics, University of Utah • Peace and Justice Studies, Utah Valley University • Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land• Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice •Salt Lake City Public Library

For more information go to www.humanrights.utah.edu or peaceadvocacycoalition.com