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NSN Kicks Off New Town Hall Series - "Security and Humanity: Keeping America Safe and Safeguarding American Values"

Florida 5 August 2008

Lt. Col. Stuart Couch, USMC, a former military prosecutor within the Office of Military Commissions who was selected to conduct criminal proceedings against certain detainees held at the U.S Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and now a military judge on the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, traveled to Tallahassee to deliver the final summer lecture in Florida State University’s Human Rights and National Security in the 21st Century lecture series on Thursday, July 31st.

More than 150 students, faculty and members of the local community were in attendance including, students and faculty from Florida A & M University and Tallahassee Community College, religious leaders, law enforcement officials, a former Florida Supreme Court Justice, state District Court of Appeal judges, senior staff from the Office of the Attorney General (FL) and senior state legislative staff.
Couch described what he deemed to be “the toughest decision of his military career” when he was asked to prosecute Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay linked to 9/11. Concerned that the government obtained critical evidence against Slahi by torture, Couch ultimately declined to bring charges. He resolved that such evidence was tainted and inadmissible under U.S. law and international law.
The Wall Street Journal featured Couch in an article about what he observed that prompted him to take this stand in the Slahi case. Couch was also lead counsel in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, and served as liaison to the Department of Justice and Solicitor General in support of the U.S. Supreme Court litigation of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

Beyond those who were in attendance, the lecture generated significant media attention. In addition to an article that was published in the Tallahassee Democrat on Friday, August 1st, which ran in several other Gannett newspapers around the state, the lecture was taped and will be televised periodically on FSU’s educational cable channel that is accessible in several surrounding counties. The lecture also was covered by FSU’s NPR/Florida Public Radio programming. Florida Public Radio produced an independent news segment that aired separately. The FSView & Florida Flambeau, the University’s independent student weekly, published a detailed account of the lecture in its August 4th edition that is accessible on-line. Moreover, The Morning Show with Preston Scott, a popular local drive-time talk radio program, taped a 20 minute interview with Couch that aired in its entirety on Friday morning, August 1st at 7:30 a.m., which is accessible, along with the aforementioned Wall Street Journal article, via the program’s website. (Note: This program is broadcast on WFLA 100.7, a Clear Channel station that airs the syndicated programming of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.)

This special event was sponsored by Florida State University’s Center for the Advancement of Human Rights (FSU/CAHR), a non-partisan academic institution, in collaboration with the National Security Network. The lecture series examines human rights interests and national security imperatives within the context of the U.S.-led “War on Terror.” It was launched last fall when Richard Clarke and Rand Beers traveled to Tallahassee to deliver the initial lecture.

In January ‘08, in collaboration with Human Rights First, FSU/CAHR featured three retired generals including, a retired Lt. Gen. and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who spoke out against enhanced interrogation practices and torture. In March, FSU/CAHR featured Dr. Emilio T. Gonzalez, who served as director of USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) and as an Under Secretary within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at the time, addressed the national security implications of U.S. immigration policy. Last month, FSU/CAHR collaborated with the National Security Network to feature Mark Schneider, former head of the Peace Corps and now a senior vice president with the International Crisis Group, in the first lecture of the summer series. His topic was Chaos in Afghanistan. Schneider emphasized that the strong ties between the Taliban and Al Qaeda that have been reestablished while the U.S. focused upon Iraq make Afghanistan an ideal staging area to launch new terror attacks on the West.

FSU/CAHR will continue the lecture series in the fall and intends to schedule at least another few lectures leading up to the general election on Nov. 4.

Mark R. Schlakman, Esq.

Media Coverage:

http://www.floridacapitalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/CA...

http://media.www.fsunews.com/media/storage/paper920/news/2008/08/04/News...