Guantanamo

President Barack Obama issued an executive order Monday, reversing a two-year ban on military trials for suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. PBS's Newshour has this report.
5 min 39 sec. video or .mp3, transcript available

The Laws of War

Le Monde Diplomatique has a monthly podcast. August's edition is an interview with Chase Madar, a civil rights lawyer in New York, about the laws of war and the different ways in which they are violated.
8:44 min., no transcript.

BEST WISHES FOR 2010 to all our readers.

BBC Radio 4 has just aired a documentary, Closing Guantanamo, one year after President Obama's promise to close it within the year. 38 min. no transcript, BBC iPlayer.
Eleven days left to listen.

U.S. Supreme Court and habeas corpus in Guantanamo The Supreme Court has just decided two cases, Boumediene v. Bush and al-Odah v. United States, in favor of the detainees. The PBS NewsHour report can be found here. 18:30 min, RealPlayer, or .mp3, transcript.

Torture, Law, and War: What are the moral and legal boundaries on the use of coercion in interrogation? The entire extremely rich conference is available in segments - in audio (.mp3) and video (.mov). Speakers include political scientists, lawyers, philosophers, and at least one judge (Albie Sachs from the South African Supreme Court - recounting his experiences as a torturee).

America’s Rocky Relationship With the World Heather Hurlburt & Eric Posner discuss America's rocky relationship with the world, touching on global warming, the Geneva Conventions, what President Obama will do when Spain arrests John Yoo, and America's inherent conflict with international law. a diavlog (video dialog) 59 min., no transcript, can download in WindowsMediaPlayer or .mp3

Guantanamo detainees at the Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments once again yesterday concerning the rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. A good place to start to understand the questions in these cases is this NPR presentation which incorporates bits of the recording of the arguments released immediately by the Court. 11:36 min. Script If you want to hear the full recording of the arguments, the Oyez site has the recording here. 1:23 .mp3 download or flash. The transcript will appear with the recording as soon as possible. More links to reports of the two cases, Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. US, can be found here.

Executive Power and the War on Terror A panel discussion was held in September at the College of William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, VA. about two cases concerning detainee rights which will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in December. 55 min. Real Audio required, no script. Don't wait to long to listen here - the recordings from C-Span's America and the Courts program are only kept for about 60 days.

Is Guantanamo going to be closed soon? NPR's All Things Considered (June 23) has these reports - "Deciding the Future of Guantanamo" and "Military Lawyer Questions Guantanamo Hearings" here - the second story has a lot of text to help you.