Travel Exemption for IU McKinney's Military Commission Observation Project
10/12/2017
The work continues for IU McKinney’s Military Commission Observation Project (MCOP). Part of the Program in International Human Rights Law, MCOP participants travel to Fort Meade in Maryland or to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to observe court proceedings and publish their findings.
The United States Department of State issued a travel warning for Cuba on September 29, 2017, due to attacks against U.S. Embassy employees in Havana. The Indiana University Overseas Study Advisory Council has issued an exemption from the university’s policy that prohibits program activity in a country that is under a State Department travel warning. Those who elect to take part in the MCOP program will need to complete a waiver and ensure that all of its parameters are met.
IU McKinney 3L Sheila Willard, Johanna Leblanc, ’16; and Professor George Edwards, PIHRL Director, are slated to travel to Guantanamo Bay during October to witness court proceedings during October 2017. With the exemption now in place, the three will be able to travel to complete their work.
The Pentagon’s Guantanamo Bay Convening Authority granted non-governmental organization observer status to PIHRL in February 2014, and MCOP was formed shortly thereafter. The project has been sending IU McKinney students, faculty, staff, and alumni to Guantanamo Bay or Fort Meade, where proceedings are observed via secure video feed, since Spring 2014. To date, there have been more than 50 participants.
To learn more about the program, and apply to take part, visit the PIHRL website.
The website, www.GitmoObserver.com, and a blog, gitmoobserver.com/blog/ have been created to support the project. In addition, the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual for U.S. Military Commissions has been written. The project is also on Twitter, and can be found @GitmoObserver.