Public Education - The International Program

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 10015 

Abd Al Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu Al Nashiri 

Pre-Trial Hearings March 10–21, 2025 

Events:

The pre-trial witness and motions hearings for ISN 10015 Nashiri began on March 10, 2025, with the judge setting the schedule for two weeks, to include scheduled recesses to accommodate potential signal interference. He admonished counsel that the Remote Hearing Room (RHR) is an extension of the well of the courtroom and should not be subject to continuous entrances and exits. The defense requested and was granted either a closed session or a court recess on March 12, 2025, to allow the defense’s expert witness, Dr. Sandra Crosby, to complete a round of testing on Nashiri for the purposes of determining the presence and extent of any PTSD symptoms beyond what she had already predicted. 

Defense Motion concerning undue command influence and petition for extension of trial date

The first motion (AE 604 A and B) brought by the defense combined both an assertion of undue command influence over the Convening Authority and a petition for an extension of the trial commencement date of October 6, 2025. As a basis for this motion, the defense claimed that up to 60 percent of its time currently is spent explaining its functions and daily activities to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), that interactions with DOGE have led the Convening Authority to cancel contracts for the defense’s civilian contract-term employees and the denial of hiring a second investigator to assist with the pre-trial interview of 400+ witnesses. Further, due to DOGE’s influence, the SecDef has enacted policies against remote work limiting the remaining investigator’s ability to travel to interview potential witnesses in their environs.

The defense also noted that a pre-trial agreement had been under negotiation with the Convening Authority but had stalled when the 9-11 KSM pre-trial agreements met with legal pushback, and negotiations will not resume due to DOGE’s interference. Since DOGE is slated to finish work with the DoD in March 2026, the defense requested that all trial plans be postponed until then, unless DOGE is ordered to cease impacting the Military Commissions. 

The government asked to delay its response, so the AE 604 argument was continued until March 20, 2025. However, the government noted that there were still many months ahead for the defense to prepare for an October trial date, so postponement was unnecessary. In support, the government said that some pre-trial sessions have already been canceled or curtailed due to fewer motions to argue and the realization that many of the motions were repetitive. The government also noted that the defense team is formidable and could power through its planned work even with only one investigator. The defense agreed that its team is formidable but countered that because too much time had been “wasted” on attempting to negotiate a pre-trial agreement, they were in danger of missing client representation opportunities. Further, the defense argued that “an October 6 trial date would set us up for decades of appeals,” when everyone is looking for a case that definitively ends. The judge indicated an unwillingness to rule from the bench on this motion and directed the teams to work to the scheduled docket unless and until he ruled otherwise. 

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, 2017

About Thomas Wheatley, https://www2.gmu.edu/news/424386

International Visitors and United Nations DGC Briefing

• 2018
  • Wrap up for 2018
• 2017
  • Summary of UN Event: The Trade in Minors in the Digital Age – September 28, 2017
• 2016
  • Wrap up for 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 UN Briefing, “Global Refugee Crises: Opportunities and Challenges” – November

• 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
  • People’s Republic of China – December
  • People’s Republic of China – September
  • Ukraine
  • Meeting with Delegates from Newly Independent States
• 2012
  • A Multi-Regional Project for Young Political Leaders
  • Europe and Eurasia
  • Croatia
  • Israel
  • Philippines
• 2011
  • China
  • France
• 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
  • Indonesia
  • Vietnam
  • Russia
  • North Africa and the Near East
  • Armenia
  • Haiti
  • Morocco
• 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
  • Czech Republic
  • Vietnam
• 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
  • International Visitor Report
  • Taipei, Taiwan
  • Kosovo
• 2004
  • Latvia
  • West Africa delegation
  • Czech Republic
  • Ghana
• 2003
  • Brazil
  • Russia
  • Republic of China
• 2002
  • Japan
  • Turkey
• 2001
  • Moldova