In this public conference, organized by ECCHR in collaboration with Amnesty International, Germany and the Republican Lawyers Association (RAV) , lawyers and activists will discuss violations of legal standards and human rights in the “War on Terror”. The public conference on October 4 and 5 in Berlin – in collaboration with Amnesty International, Germany and the Republican Lawyer’s Association, amongst others – will benefit from the presence of the practitioners in Berlin. It is the second such conference in Berlin. The first event in 2006 was well attended by lawyers, judges, academics and human rights activists.

Supported by: Holtfort Foundation, Medico International and Stiftung Menschenrechte (German Foundation for Human Rights).


Conference Details
Address
Bremer Landesvertretung
Hiroshimastr. 24
10785 Berlin

Contact
RAVeV@t-online.de
Phone: +49-30-41723555
Fax: +49-30-4172355


PROGRAM

October 4th (Thursday)

14.00 Welcome and Introduction:
Barbara Lochbihler, Amnesty International
Wolfgang Kaleck, RAV, ECCHR

14.30 Award of the Holtfort foundation to Attorney Bernhard Docke, Bremen, by Attorney Martin Lemke, President of the Holtfort Foundation


PART I. Germany´s and the EU´s responsibility regarding the CIA’s Rendition Flights

15.00 Statement of a victim, Maher Arar, Canada

15.30 The Rendition-Program of the US-government, Attorney Michael Ratner, CCR, New York

::Rendition in Europe:: – the investigation of the European Council, Gavin Simpson, special investigator for Dick Marty and the report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council

::Rendition in Europe:: – the investigation of the European Parliament, Claudio Fava, MEP, Brussels

::Rendition in Europe:: - legal and political counter-strategies, Attorney Wolfgang Kaleck, RAV and ECCHR

Chair: Lotte Leicht, Human Rights Watch, Brussels


16.30 – 17.00 Coffee break

17.30 – 18.30 Court Cases

::Khaled El Masri before German and US courts, Attorneys Manfred Gncic and Ben Wizner, ACLU, New York
::The investigation against CIA officials in the kidnapping case Abu Omar, federal prosecutor Armando Spataro, Milano
::The investigation of the Spanish Audencia Nacional about the CIA renditions led by the Spanish Audencia Nacional, Manuel Olle, Madrid
::Rendition and black prison sites in Poland, Kamil Majchrzak, ECCHR, Warsaw/Berlin


October 5th (Friday)

PART II. Anti-terrorism laws and the protection of human rights

10.15 General introduction

10.30 The boundaries of a terrorism combat in accordance with human rights, Gerald Staberock, International Commission of Jurists, Genf

11.00 Discussion

11.30 Coffee break

12.00 The prohibition of torture in the “Struggle against Terror”, Theo van Boven, former UN-Special Rapporteur on Torture, Maastricht

12.30 Violations of the prohibition of torture in name of the “war against terror”, Halya Gowan, Amnesty International, London tbc

13.00– 14.00 Lunch break

14.00 Data-protection and new anti terrorism laws, Dr. Thilo Weichert, Ombudsman for data-protection in Schleswig-Holstein

14.20 The utilization of information acquired by the use of torture in a shared anti terror file – a report of the general practice, Attorney Sönke Hilbrans, Deutsche Vereinigung für Datenschutz (German association for data-protection), Berlin

14.40 Discussion

15.00 The anti-terrorism laws and their effects on alien’s law, Attorney Dr. Reinhard Marx, Frankfurt am Main

15.30 Human Rights and cooperation of police and secrete service in Europe, Ben Hayes, Statewatch, London

16.00 Discussion

16.30 Coffee break

17.00 Panel Discussion on counterstrategies

18.00 Chair: Barbara Lochbihler, amnesty international, Berlin

Members of Parliament:
Gerhart Baum, former Federal Minister, Cologne
Wolfgang Nescovic, Member of Parliament, the Leftists
Hans-Christian Ströbele, Member of Parliament,The Greens
Sebastian Edathy, MdB, SPD, tbc