FIELDWORK & ASSESSMENTS
August 8, 2018: Professor Mendez wrote a letter to the members of the Board of Directors and Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA) urging them to reject a policy to amend the APA’s current policy on the role of military and operational psychologists in detention facilities. The current policy states that only independent psychologists, who are working directly for the detainee or for an independent third party working to protect human rights, can provide assessment and treatment for detainees held in conditions that violate international human rights law, such as Guantanamo and CIA “black sites.” The proposed policy would permit military and operational psychologists to return to detention facilities like Guantanamo and take over the treatment of detainees. In the letter, he emphasizes that it is important to recall that at Guantánamo and at CIA “black sites,” torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment took place systematically under the watchful eye and with the participation of medical professionals, including psychologists. He further attests that if the measure is adopted, it “would be a disturbing reversal in the fight against torture and open the door to future abuse.”
January 28, 2018- Professor Mendez joined the Center for Civil & Human Rights, Notre Dame Law School for a conversation on "Torture and Forgiveness at Guantanamo Bay”. Professor Mendez affirmed that "the State can and must expropriate revenge, but it cannot expropriate forgiveness. When a State decides not to investigate, not to publicize, not to prosecute, and not to punish, it is actually expropriating forgiveness from the only persons who can really forgive, the victims."
November 30, 2017- Professor Méndez, testified at a public hearing held by the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT).
November 14, 2017- the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Amnesty International USA and Human Rights First held an event for a discussion with author Mark Fallon about his new book, "Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture." The author himself will be present to sign books, and discuss his new publication and the important topics that it addresses Professor Mendez, Amnesty's Daphne Eviatar, and Human Rights First's Raha Wala.
February 2, 2017- Professor Mendez, together with the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, published a statement rejecting claims to torture "works" and urging against the reinstatement of torture in the United States.
January 7, 2017- In an article by The New York Times, former Professor Mendez addressed the serious dangers posed by President-elect Donald J. Trump's campaign vow to reinstate the use of torture
October 29, 2015- Profesor Méndez testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during a hearing on access to justice and remedies for torture victims of the CIA's rendition, detention, and interrogation program. In his testimony, the the Special Rapporteur noted that the US Government has a "responsibility under international law to let the American people know what happened during the years when extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were practiced," and to ensure transparency and accountability - including by investigating, prosecuting, and punishing those responsible for committing, ordering, or tolerating acts of torture and other ill-treatment - to the fullest extent possible.
CAPACITY BUILDING & PARTNERSHIPS
April 25, 2017- Professor Mendez received the Juvenile Justice Advocates International Outstanding Advocate for Children 2017 award.
April 11, 2017 In an interview with Just Security, Professor Mendez together with renowned lawyers, such as Kenneth Roth and Pablo De Greiff, discussed rump administration’s attitude toward international human rights
November 11, 2016- United Nations Human Rights Professor Mendez, along with David Scheffer, U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes 1997-2001; and Cori Crider, Director of the Abuses in Counter-Terrorism team at Reprieve 2009-2016, discuss what the Trump presidency could mean for human rights and rule of law.
June 20, 2016- The New York Times Editorial Board called on President Barack Obama to grant Professor Mendez access to visit and interview detainees in the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. “I want to believe that the use of torture by the United States is a dark chapter that has ended,” the former Special Rapporteur on Torture said in an interview. “But I can’t be certain of that until we see a change in policy and verify that the United States is meeting all its international obligations,” he concluded.
May 12, 2016- Professor Méndez wrote a declaration submitted to Ammar al-Baluchi's military commission “It is essential to my mandate to ensure that State institutions, including the facility at Guantanamo Bay, uphold unambiguously a zero tolerance policy against torture and ill-treatment and make efforts to eliminate the risk of ill-treatment and excessive force by the detaining authorities while in detention.”
February 27, 2016- The United States must ensure proper investigations and full accountability for human rights violations as part of plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Professor Mendez and other independent United Nations Human Rights experts have said. "In order to turn the page completely, US authorities must ensure independent and impartial investigations and prosecutions into all credible allegations of violations carried out within this context, such as extraordinary rendition, torture and secret detention,” they stressed, adding that "the findings should be made public, and those responsible must be brought to justice.”
January 11, 2016- On the 14th anniversary of the opening of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, Professor Méndez joined other independent UN Human Rights Experts and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in calling for the facility’s closure. In an open letter to the United States government, the experts again reiterated their call for the closure of Guantánamo Bay and the need for “the United States [to] . . . clean up its own house - impunity only generates more abuses, as States do not feel compelled to stop engaging in illegal practices.” The experts further stated that “[t]he United States must demonstrate leadership and commitment to ensure that international law principles are upheld.” The experts urged the Government to end impunity for violations of human rights and humanitarian law committed during the so-called “global war on terror” and investigate and prosecute those responsible.
November 16, 2015- Professor Mendez joined former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Stephen Rapp and other panelists for a discussion entitled "Conflict and Conventions: Government Accountability for #Torture" at the American Red Cross. The discussion is being broadcast LIVE and will be available for future viewing here: http://ow.ly/UHO2l
October 29, 2015- Professor Méndez testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during a hearing on access to justice and remedies for torture victims of the CIA's rendition, detention, and interrogation program. In his testimony, the the Special Rapporteur noted that the US Government has a "responsibility under international law to let the American people know what happened during the years when extraordinary rendition, secret detention, and so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were practiced," and to ensure transparency and accountability - including by investigating, prosecuting, and punishing those responsible for committing, ordering, or tolerating acts of torture and other ill-treatment - to the fullest extent possible
RESOURCES
The United States’ Obligation to Prevent Torture and Ill-Treatment During the “Global War on Terror”: Continued Concerns Over the Indefinite Detention of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay, released on March 23, 2018.
Expert Opinion presented before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the hearing on the human rights situation of detainees at Guantánamo Naval Base, United States, released on October 28, 2013. (Video IACHR) (Video NTN24)