WarCriminalsWatch Events

Sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 034 New York City in collaboration with New York University's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ), Iraq Veterans against the War (IVAW), and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). The event will be in Room 206.

The event will be followed by a brief reception. Please RSVP to Kelly Ryan at
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entrance.

In the seven years since the start of the war in Iraq, countless thousands of
Iraqis have been injured, lost their lives, and been displaced, and scores of US
military personnel have also been maimed or killed. While many Iraqis have left
their country as refugees, a number of soldiers have also left the military to
object to a war they feel is both unjust and immoral. In the absence of a
transition from war to peace, both of these groups have faced the challenge of
pursuing justice and having their voices heard as they struggle to defend human
rights.

Panelists
Jose Vasquez (moderator) is the Executive Director of Iraq Veterans Against the
War. He served fourteen years in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in
May 2007 as a conscientious objector. Jose was a key organizer of Winter
Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations and
represented IVAW in the editing process for the book published by Haymarket. He
is pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at CUNY Graduate Center where he is
conducting research on the politics of veteran status in contemporary American
society.
Chantelle Bateman, is an Iraq war Veteran and IVAW member, who originally
joined the US Marine Corps Reserves in January of 2003. She deployed with Marine
Aircraft Group-16 to Al Asad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II as
an Aviation Supply Clerk. Her experiences with the war and her struggle to
reconcile her fear and shame with those experiences eventually led her to leave
the service and become a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.  She has
spoken out against the war by taking part in the Winter Soldier project.
Sally Bette Newman, is a founding member of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance
Project and an NYU Law alum. She has worked on the resettlement cases of about a
dozen refugees, trained law students and pro bono lawyers to take their own
cases, and traveled to Jordan twice for fact-finding trips investigating the
legal needs of displaced Iraqis.
Ziad Turkey is an Iraqi cinematographer, photographer, and artist residing with
refugee status in the US.  In 2005, because of his documentary work, he and his
family were forced to flee leave with his family to Syria. In September 2006, he
returned to Baghdad to finish his film series "Home Town Baghdad" but had to
live in a safe house during the duration of the filming, before joining back up
with his family in Syria. In 2007, he applied for refugee status with the UNHCR
and in May 2009, he was finally granted refugee status in the U.S.
Lisa Magarell, is the Director of the Americas Program at the International
Center for Transitional Justice and a recognized expert on truth commissions and
reparations.  Since joining the ICTJ in 2001, she has worked on reparations
issues in relation to a number of countries, including Ghana, Guatemala,
Liberia, Peru, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and in connection with the Trust Fund
for Victims of the International Criminal Court. She led ICTJ's technical
assistance on truth-seeking, justice and reparations in Peru for several years
and served as advisor to the Greensboro (North Carolina) Truth and
Reconciliation Commission and its founding grassroots project. Ms. Magarrell
also served as a resource for policymakers and the Assembly of First Nations in
Canada as they moved toward a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address the
legacy of forced residential schooling of aboriginal children.