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 256 hearings to date.
See ARCHIVE section HERE.
Hearing Summaries
Military Commissions:
ISN 10019 Nurjaman, Pretrial Hearings
Week of October 21-25, 2024
Events:
The October 21-25, 2024, pretrial hearings for ISN 10019 Encep “Hambali” Nurjaman opened with a motion for and discussion of the former lead defense counsel withdrawing from the case. The former lead defense counsel has left the military, relinquishing his clearance, and has been removed from his classified compartments. He is now employed with an NGO that is assisting the Ukraine in setting up war crimes trial procedures while it is at war with Russia. The former lead counsel indicated several conflicts of interest represented by his current job:
1. The Nurjaman trial proceedings may take the direction of the Bali Bombings being a war crime, while the former lead defense counsel would be assisting in the prosecution of other war crimes.
2. The infrastructure being set up in the Ukraine uses many investigatory and prosecutorial practices that bear a distinct resemblance to FBI procedures, while the FBI is in an adversarial position in relation to Nurjaman.
3. The NGO employing the former lead defense counsel is being funded by the U.S. Department of State. The Department of Defense and the Department of Justice fund judicial procedures concerning the GTMO detainees. If the former lead defense counsel were to remain as part of the case, he would be receiving pay from two different federal sources.
4. The former lead defense counsel will be traveling extensively and in lengthy duration as he performs his new job. He may have limited availability to provide the committed defense that Nurjaman might require.
The former lead defense counsel believes he could perform his duties both to the NGO and to Nurjaman with minimal conflict but is concerned about being paid by two sources. He indicated that he already discussed this situation with Nurjaman and urged the judge to speak directly with Nurjaman to ascertain the detainee’s comfort level.
The present lead defense counsel petitioned that the former lead defense counsel be retained on a contract basis to assist with the defense team spinning up, since the longest serving member of the defense team has only been on the team for five months, and many members were only detailed two months before this hearing. The government indicated that it would be possible to bring the former lead defense counsel back, but that it would require a lengthy investigation of the former counsel’s background, current activities, and fitness to still receive the clearance and compartments that he previously held. That process would take such a duration that the defense team would likely no longer be spinning up, and the only way for Nurjaman (whose speech is presumptively classified TOP SECRET) to communicate with him in the meantime would be through legal mail.
The judge delayed ruling on the dismissal of the former lead defense counsel to allow the defense team time to ask the Convening Authority to create an appointment for him to perform paid-by-the-hour consultancy.
See ARCHIVE for full summary and witness testimony.
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
