ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University will host officials from the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., for a panel discussion on "Colombia, U.S. Policy and Human Rights" at 7 p.m., Thursday, April 17, in Clippinger Hall room 194. The event is free and open to the public.

Founded in 1975, the Center for International Policy is a nonprofit educational and research organization with a stated goal of promoting a U.S. foreign policy based on international cooperation, demilitarization and respect for basic human rights. In recent years, the Center has focused on such areas as U.S. policy toward Colombia and sub-Saharan Africa and the ban on trade with and travel to Cuba.

The panelists are Robert White, president of the Center for International Policy and Adam Isacson, senior associate. White has served as ambassador to Paraguay and El Salvador and served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Colombia in the mid-1970s. Isacson has worked at the Center for International Policy since 1995. He coordinates a program that monitors security and U.S. military assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean.

The project, supported by individual donors and private foundations, has produced numerous publications on the subject, including the "Just the Facts" series of reference books on U.S.-Latin American military cooperation. Since 1998 Isacson's work has sent him to Colombia 18 times.

Ohio University's Latin American Studies Program and the Ohio University Chapter of Amnesty International are the sponsors of the panel.