Columbia Alumni Club of France

in association with

are pleased to invite you to a breakfast with

Michael Ratner,

Columbia Law School ‘69

International Human Rights Lawyer, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights

Author of “Guantanamo: What the world should know” Chelsea Green Publishing

Thursday, June 9, 2005 at 8.30 AM

At the offices of Veil & Jourde,

38 rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris

Metro: Miromesnil or Saint Augustin Parking Hausmann Berri

Michael Ratner is President Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit human rights litigation organization in New York City. He was co-counsel in representing the Guantanamo detainees in the Supreme Court where a major victory was won in June 2004. He and his office have sued two of the private contractors in Iraq alleging their employees were involved in the abuses and torture at Abu Ghraib. He recently filed a criminal complaint in the courts of Germany against Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials seeking the initiation of criminal prosecutions against them for the Abu Ghraib abuse and torture.  The Center for Constitutional Rights is deeply involved in defending civil liberties in the United States, post 9/11. This has included a challenge to the Patriot Act and a lawsuit on behalf of post 9/11 immigration detainees in the U.S. and representation of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, sent, or rendered, to Syria where he was tortured.  In the past he acted as a principal counsel in the successful suit to close the camp for HIV-positive Haitian refugees on Guantanamo Base, Cuba and has litigated numerous cases opposing U.S. initiated wars from Central America to Iraq.

He has written extensively on the Patriot Act, military tribunals and civil liberties in the Post 9/11 world. He has also been involved in opposing the Iraq war and co-authored the book, Against War with Iraq. His most recent book is Guantanamo: What the world should know. Other writings on the current situation include chapters in Freedom at Risk; It’s a Free Country; Lost Liberties and many other books  Other work includes: Adjunct Professor at The Columbia Law School, where he teaches international human rights litigation, and Lecturer at Yale Law School; former President of the National Lawyers Guild; Special Counsel to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to assist in the prosecution of human rights crimes; he also taught at NYU Law School.

Among his many honors are: Trial Lawyer of the Year from the Trial lawyers for Public Justice, The Columbia Law School Public Interest Law Foundation Award, the Columbia Law School Medal of Honor (Jan. 21, 2005), the North Star Community Frederick Douglass Award and Honorary Fellow University of Pennsylvania Law School (May 16, 2005).

Please RSVP at nyuclub@nyu-club-france.com ASAP, space is limited.

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