Shown: Scott Roehm, Dana Chivvis, Alison Beckman, Jessica Weisberg

How did the producers of “Serial” podcast approach the broad, complex and difficult topic of Guantánamo? To get the inside scoop, CVT hosted a livestreamed panel discussion with “Serial” producers Dana Chivvis and Jessica Weisberg, along with Scott Roehm and Alison Beckman from CVT’s policy team.

The “Serial” team worked for more than two years researching Season 4’s nine episodes, which aired in spring of 2024. They interviewed over 100 people, including former guards, former detainees, attorneys, officials and others, to find out what it was like to be there over the years. They also spoke to Center for Victims of Torture staff who are experts on Guantánamo, human rights and torture’s impacts and long-term implications for mental health.

The theme that was consistent with all four panelists’ experience was that Guantánamo is a place where it is almost impossible to know what’s going on. Dana commented that right from the beginning, during her first media tour of the island, she found that everyone was friendly and positive, yet “no one would answer our questions.” There was a deep undercurrent of mystery and confusion at the location, a feeling that nothing made sense in this place. Dana said that it’s an active site, a town with restaurants and shops, a military base and a beautiful beach, yet “there’s this extrajudicial prison that’s on the back 40, that’s just sitting there and kind of nobody wants to talk about it.”

There’s this extrajudicial prison that’s on the back 40, that’s just sitting there and kind of nobody wants to talk about it.”

Dana Chivvis, Serial podcast producer

Dana and Jessica said that as they began speaking to former detainees during their research, they learned that dealing with the unknown was a constant stress, with some detainees saying that not knowing when or if they would ever leave Guantánamo was worse than the torture they experienced. Ally Beckman talked about the psychological impacts of indefinite detention and how clients at CVT have described this and its particular cruelty. Jessica said that detainees told her how they were at times given projects, and it felt to them like the guards were merely trying to distract them from the fact that they were never going to leave.

The group also discussed how any path to justice related to Guantánamo faces an enormous obstacle: the fact that detainees held there were subject to torture and indefinite detention. All four panelists have worked closely with September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization whose members lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and work for justice. However, getting justice within the broken system at Guantánamo has meant years of advocacy, hearings, trials and enormous time and emotional commitment, all with little to show. Yet the members have persevered, attending every hearing and working through every detail, maintaining hope that one day people will be held appropriately accountable for what was done to their loved ones.

Saturday, January 11 marks the 23^rd anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo.