Rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to be topic of lawyer’s speech

Northern Illinois University professor Marc Falkoff drew upon his knowledge and passion for law to write "Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak" and uses his Guantanamo experiences in the classroom to convey “we are a nation of laws, not men.” He will speak at a public DeKalb Interfaith Network event Thursday. Chronicle file photo | KATE WEBER CARLSON

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When the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were entitled to legal representation, NIU College of Law professor Marc Falkoff was one of the principal attorneys to provide habeas corpus representation to more than a dozen prisoners being held there on suspicion of terrorism. Today he continues to represent more than a dozen Yemenite men held at the U.S. Naval Base prison, including one who recently tried to commit suicide by swallowing his forced feeding tube. Falkoff will share his experiences at a presentation Thursday at Northern Illinois University, hosted by DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice, along with the NIU History Department and the new student NIU Campus Anti-War Network. Falkoff, according to a recent news release from the Interfaith Network, maintains “such representation matters for the continued rule of law in this country ... when fear and the so-called ‘war on terror’ threaten the important right of Habeas Corpus.” “Habeas corpus,” Falkoff was quoted in the release, “guarantees that the President cannot act like an unaccountable King. ... It assures that only the guilty are kept in prison and that the innocent are released. According to the release, Oct. 7, 2001, when the current war began in Afghanistan, 775 prisoners from various countries were arrested and sent to the U.S. offshore prison. Seven years later, 263 prisoners are still being held there, and only one has been brought to trial. “There’s an assumption that if we have them at Guantanamo, then they must be guilty and are terrorists,” Falkoff maintains, “and this is demonstrably wrong.” After earning a doctoral degree in literature at Brandeis University, Falkoff worked at the Capital Defenders Office, which represents death-row inmates. After obtaining a law degree at Columbia University, he was a practicing attorney until coming to NIU. While at Columbia University, Falkoff was editor of the Columbia Law Review, a James Kent scholar and published “Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak.” For his work with these detainees he received the Charles F. C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award from the Covington & Burling law firm, with whom he was an associate. In 2007 he received the Frederick Douglas Human Rights Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Marc Falkoff presentation 7 p.m. Thursday Lincoln Room of Holmes Student Center Northern Illinois University in DeKalb Cost: Free; parking is free on campus after 7 p.m. For information call Dan Kenney of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice at 815-793-0950.