Case School of Law students provide research for prosecuting Guantanamo detainees
Military commissions find law school’s research service through War Crimes Research Portal
November 30, 2004 | For more information: Jeff Bendix (216)-368-6070
 The War Crimes Research Office at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law has a new client—the military commissions prosecuting detainees at the Guantanamo naval base suspected of membership in Al Qaeda.
The War Crimes Research Office has signed a memorandum with the chief prosecutor of the Office of Military Commissions under which the war crimes office is researching issues of public international law and comparative law to assist in developing and enforcing international criminal law. The War Crimes Research Office is part of the law school’s Frederick K. Cox International Law Center.
“We are very happy to be called upon to undertake research services on behalf of the Office of Military Commissions,” said Michael Scharf, professor and director of the Cox Center. “Not only does it give us the chance to serve our country, but it provides our students with an unparalleled opportunity to gain experience in a major, real-life case.” Scharf added that the Office of Military Commissions contacted him after discovering the Cox Center’s War Crimes Research Portal, which has become the most widely used war crimes research site on the Internet.
Gerald Korngold, dean and McCurdy Professor of Law said, “This project is an outstanding example of our law school’s mission of preparing leaders in public and community service. It is an honor to be asked to participate in this important research.”
This semester eight students are performing the research under the supervision of Scharf, who worked in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State during the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton; Visiting Professor Amos Guiora, who was formerly Commander of the Israeli Defense Forces School of Military Law; and Christopher Rassi, adjunct professor and assistant director of the Cox Center and a 2003 graduate of the law school. Rassi spent six months working as judicial clerk to Judge Ines Monica Weinberg de Roca of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The assigned issues range from whether terrorism and conspiracy are recognized as crimes under international law to whether the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights applies to the military commissions.
Since its founding two years ago, the War Crimes Research Office has prepared more than 70 research memos on issues pending before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which is preparing to try Saddam Hussein. These memos are available at the Cox Center War Crimes Research Portal: www.law.case.edu/War-Crimes-Research-Portal.
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