Robert Goldman new UN special rapporteur on HR and War on Terror

["Rikke Frank Joergensen" <rfj@humanrights.dk>]

Fyi,  best Rikke 
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American Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law
http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/hracademy/

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http://news.lawinfo.com/story/2_ds_33712.cfm

U.S. law professor appointed U.N. expert on human rights and
counterterrorism

The Associated Press, GENEVA

An American law professor has been appointed by the United Nations to
monitor governments' respect for human rights as they fight terrorism.

Robert K. Goldman, of the Washington College of Law, American
University, was named Independent Expert on the protection of human
rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Mike Smith,
chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, announced the appointment
Friday.

The commission says Goldman's role will be to "address the compatibility
of national counterterrorism measures with international human rights
obligations."

In 2002, he was co-author of an article for the American Society of
International Law that said the United States had failed to meet
international human rights standards in its treatment of detainees
captured in Afghanistan and held at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.

Human rights experts have been concerned that governments'
counterterrorism measures sometimes ignore basic rights such as
detainees' rights to a fair trial.

The new position was created in April when the commission's 53 member
states unanimously approved a resolution brought by Mexico.

Goldman has been writing about human rights in conflict situations for
more than 30 years and is the author of numerous articles on
international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, war crimes and
protection of civilians.

International human rights groups also have expressed concerns about the
Guantanamo base, especially about the long periods of time that
detainees have been held without trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that all the 594
detainees there have the right to contest their continued detention
before a U.S. federal court.

Goldman graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1971 and
was a Fulbright Scholar in Uruguay in 1967-68.

As a U.N. expert, Goldman will be unpaid but will receive expenses and
assistance from the U.N. human rights office. He will report his
findings to the annual session of the Human Rights Commission.

Smith also appointed or nominated 13 other new experts, including
monitors of the human rights situations in North Korea, Sudan, Chad,
Belarus, Burundi and Uzbekistan, and experts on the right to education,
human trafficking and freedom of religion.

All the appointments were made in consultation with member states, the
United Nations said.