Press Release
Published on September 24, 2009
Washington, DC Fed up with the spread of misinformation and disinformation by those opposed to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo, four of the nation’s most distinguished retired military leaders are coming to Capitol Hill to “set the record straight” during an event on Tuesday, September 29.
General David M. Maddox, USA (Ret.), Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.), Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.) and Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.), will join Human Rights First CEO and Executive Director Elisa Massimino for a frank discussion about the national security benefits of closing the facility and about the heated rhetoric and scare tactics that have shaped this debate in recent weeks. The group will also take questions from the audience.
General Maddox served in the U.S. Army from 1960 until 1995. He retired after serving as Commander in Chief, U.S. Army in Europe. While on active duty, General Maddox served extensively overseas with four tours in Germany during which he commanded at every level from platoon through NATO’s Central Army Group, 7th U.S. Army and theater. His last six years of active duty were in Europe transitioning from the Cold War, through Desert Storm, to the total reengineering of our presence and mission in Europe. Lieutenant General Soyster served as Director, Defense Intelligence Agency during DESERT SHIELD/STORM. He also served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of the Army, Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command and in the Joint Reconnaissance Center, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rear Admiral John D. Hutson served in the U. S. Navy from 1973 to 2000 and was the Navy’s Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000. Major General Nash served in the Army for 34 years and is a veteran of Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm. He has extensive experience in peacekeeping operations, both as a military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-1996) and as a civilian administrator for the United Nations in Kosovo (2000).
General Maddox, Lieutenant General Soyster, Rear Admiral Hutson, and Major General Nash were among the retired military officials who stood behind President Obama on his second day in office as he signed the Executive Orders banning torture and ordering the closure of the Guantanamo detention facility by January 2010. As the four retired military leaders continue to unite their voices in support of these orders, they and more than a dozen other retired military leaders from throughout the nation are traveling to Washington, DC on September 29-30 to meet with a number of top Administration officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder.
Tuesday’s Capitol Hill discussion is open to the press. Lieutenant General Soyster, Rear Admiral Hutson, Major General Nash, and Elisa Massimino are also available for interview prior to and following the event.
WHAT: “Protecting America Post-Guantanamo”
WHO: Panelists: General David M. Maddox, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.)
Moderator: Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First CEO & Executive Director
WHEN: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center, Room SVC 210
General David M. Maddox, USA (Ret.)
General Maddox served in the U.S. Army from 1960 until 1995. He retired after serving as Commander in Chief, U.S. Army in Europe. While on active duty, General Maddox served extensively overseas with four tours in Germany during which he commanded at every level from platoon through NATO’s Central Army Group, 7th U.S. Army and theater. His last six years of active duty were in Europe transitioning from the Cold War, through Desert Storm, to the total reengineering of our presence and mission in Europe. Since retirement, General Maddox has been an independent consultant to civilian corporations, government agencies, and defense industries regarding concepts, systems requirements, program strategies, operations and systems effectiveness, and analytic techniques and analyses. He has served on the Defense Science Board, is a member of the Army Science Board, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Corporation of the Draper Laboratory, and The Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs.
Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster, USA (Ret.)
Lieutenant General Soyster served as Director, Defense Intelligence Agency during DESERT SHIELD/STORM. He also served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Department of the Army, Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command and in the Joint Reconnaissance Center, Joint Chiefs of Staff. In Vietnam he was an operations officer in a field artillery battalion. Upon retirement he was VP for International Operations with Military Professional Resources Incorporated and returned to government as Special Assistant to the SEC ARMY for WWII 60th Anniversary Commemorations completed in 2006.
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, JAGC, USN (Ret.)
Rear Admiral John D. Hutson served in the U. S. Navy from 1973 to 2000. He was the Navy’s Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000. Admiral Hutson now serves as President and Dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire. He also joined Human Rights First’s Board of Directors in 2005.
Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.)
General Nash served in the Army for 34 years and is a veteran of Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm. He has extensive experience in peacekeeping operations, both as a military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-1996) and as a civilian administrator for the United Nations in Kosovo (2000). Since his retirement in 1998, General Nash has been a Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (1998), and Director of Civil-Military Programs at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (1999-2000), and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (2001-2009). He is also a professorial lecturer at Georgetown University, a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, and a military consultant for ABC News.
Elisa Massimino, CEO and Executive Director, Human Rights First
Elisa Massimino is CEO and Executive Director of Human Rights First, one of the nation’s leading human rights advocacy organizations. Established in 1978, Human Rights First works in the United States and abroad to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law. Massimino joined Human Rights First in 1991 and served as the organization’s Washington Director for more than a decade before being named chief executive in September 2008.
Massimino has a distinguished record of human rights advocacy in Washington. As a national authority on human rights law and policy, she has testified before Congress dozens of times and writes frequently for mainstream publications and specialized journals. In May 2008 and 2009 the influential Washington newspaper The Hill named her one of the top public advocates in the country.
Massimino holds a law degree from the University of Michigan, a Master of Arts in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Massimino serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where she teaches human rights advocacy. She is a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court.
