Posted Aug. 5, 2004.
Washington College of Law professor Robert Goldman was appointed in July to be an independent expert for the United Nations on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, according to the Associated Press.
For Goldman, this appointment comes after decades of working to address human rights concerns in conflict situations, through written articles, teaching and serving on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. For the United Nations, the appointment came after all 53 states that make up the U.N. Human Rights Commission voted in April to create the position, according to the Associated Press. Goldman will aid the U.N. high commissioner, Loise Arbour of Canada, in preparing annual and interim reports - all of which relate to the compatibility of national counterterrorism measures with international human rights obligations.
Chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission Mike Smith, an Australian diplomat, appointed Goldman to the newly created position. Goldman was backed with the support of Argentina's state department, a state he has worked with extensively.
"I was selected from a variety of very good candidates," Goldman said.
In 2002, Goldman co-authored an article for the American Society of International Law that noted the failure of the United States to meet international human rights standards in its treatment of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
His experience writing articles like that one will help him in his new position.
"Part of the job is looking at inadequacies in the system," Goldman said. One major inadequacy, he said, is "the prolonged and indefinite detention of prisoners ... I am critical of certain aspects of how we've done certain things that are counterproductive in the war on terror," said Goldman of some U.S. policies.
In early July the Supreme Court ruled that the near 600 detainees in Guantanamo Bay have the right to contest their prolonged detention in a U.S. federal court, the Associated Press reported.
Goldman's 30 years of writing about human rights in conflict situations and the law of war, combined with eight years of service on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights makes him feel that he is prepared to take on the challenge of assisting the high commissioner in Geneva, Switzerland.
Goldman was in Geneva at the end of July for his first official duties with the United Nations.
"I am assisting the high commissioner in preparation of several reports right now," said Goldman. One is due in the next session of the Human Rights Commission toward the end of this year. "I've just begun," he said. "I'll be returning to Geneva at the end of this month."
In the interim report he is currently working on, Goldman is looking for gaps in preserving human rights while waging the war on terror. Goldman said the United States is one country that has not ratified protocol for dealing with this issue.
While his U.N. position will consume extensive time, energy, thought and travel, Goldman will be unpaid for his work. His travel expenses will be covered, as he will be going to and from Geneva and New York frequently. Meanwhile, he will continue working as a law professor and the co-director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the Washington College of Law at AU.
"It's a lot of work, but you just have to do it," he said.
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