VIII. PERSONS WORKING ON THE COMMISSION ON THE TRUTH

I. The Commissioners

Belisario Betancur, Chairman; Reinaldo Figueredo Planchart; Thomas Buergenthal

II. Advisers to the Commissioners

Douglass Cassel; Guillermo Fernández de Soto; Luis Herrera Marcano; Robert E. Norris

III. Executive Director

Patricia Tappatá de Valdez

IV. Consultants and researchers

Carlos Chipoco; Mabel Colalongo; Jayni Edelstein; Stener Ekern; Guillermo Fernández-Maldonado; Alfredo Forti; Lauren Gilbert; Juan Gabriel Gómez; Javier Hernández; Sergio Hevia; Elena Jenny-Williams; Felipe Michelini; Theodore Piccone; Clifford C. Rohde; Carlos Somigliana; Ana María Tello; Lucía Vásquez

V. Personal assistants to the Commissioners

Lourdes Zambrano; Alba Reyes; Abigail Mellin

VI. Experts

Clyde Snow, forensic anthropologist; Robert H. Kirschner, forensic pathologist; John Fitzpatrick, trauma radiologist; Douglas D. Scott, archaeologist and ballistics analyst;

Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropologists: Patricia Bernardi, forensic anthropologist; Mercedes C. Doretti, forensic anthropologist; Luis B. Fondebrider, forensic anthropologist; Claudia Bernardi, Ph. D.

Alberto Binder, lawyer; Alejandro Garro, lawyer; Robert Goldman, lawyer; José Ugaz, lawyer; María del Carmen Bermúdez, journalist; Gabriel Rodríguez, journalist

VII. Codification team

Coordinator: José Ignacio Cano

Team: Daniel Angrisano; Gabriel Catena; Cristina Lemus; Judith Kallick; Nila Pérez; Margreet Smit; Miguel Angel Ventura; Ken Ward

VIII. Administrative personnel

Lilian Delgado; Guillermo Lizarzaburu; Sharon Singer

IX. Permanent security personnel

Joseph Leal (Chief); Manuel Arcos; Alfredo Figueroa; Leo Powell; Kenneth Rosario; Wilfredo Vega

X. Interns

William Cartwright; Denise Gilman; Chris Guarnota; Priscilla Hayner; Mary Beth Hastings; Jean Leong; Maggie Miqueo

XI. Offices

San Salvador, El Salvador; United Nations, New York

I. THE COMMISSIONERS

Belisario Betancur. Colombian, BA in Law and Economics, Bolivarian Pontifical University of Medellín (1955). Married to Rosa Helena Alvarez, three children, five grandchildren. University professor, member of the Spanish Language Academy and the Colombian Academy of Jurisprudence. Former Senator, Ambassador, Minister of Labour. Former President of Colombia (1982-1986). Honorary doctorates from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (1984) and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado (1988). Member of the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace in Rome. Vice-President for Latin America of the Club of Rome and President of the Santillana Foundation for Iberoamerica in Santa Fé de Bogotá.

Reinaldo Figueredo Planchart. Member of the Venezuelan National Congress. Chairman of the Congressional Special Committee on Privatization and the Subcommittee on Analysis and Planning of the Standing Committee for Defence. Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Venezuela (1989-1991); Secretary-General of the Presidency (1989); Special Commissioner for the President of the Republic (1984-1985); Director of the Manufactures Division of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva (1980-1984); President of the Foreign Trade Institute (1974-1979). Has participated in many international meetings and conferences sponsored by the United Nations, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), financial organizations, the Andean Group, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 15. Head of delegation on various international missions. Columnist on petroleum topics for the periodical El Nacional of Caracas since 1970. Has published a variety of articles in specialized journals. Economist by profession, graduated cum laude from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium.

Thomas Buergenthal. Lobingier Professor of International and Comparative Law, George Washington University Law School, and Director of the George Washington University National Law Center. Served as Judge (1979-1991), Vice-President (1983-1985) and President (1985-1987) of the Inter American Court of Human Rights. Currently Vice-President of the Administrative Tribunal of the Inter-American Development Bank. Formerly Dean of the Law School, American University, Washington, D.C. (1980-1985) and I. T. Cohen Professor of Human Rights at Emory University Law School. Former Director of the Human Rights Programme of the Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia (1985-1989). Founded the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, San José, Costa Rica, in 1980; President (1980-1992); currently Honorary President. Former President of the Human Rights Committee, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association (early 1980 and 1991-1992). Former Vice-President of the American Society of International Law. Author of more than a dozen books and many articles on international law. Graduate of Bethany College, West Virginia; JD., New York University Law School; LLM and SJD in International Legal Studies, Harvard Law School. Honorary doctorates from Bethany College and the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

II. ADVISERS TO THE COMMISSIONERS

Douglass W. Cassel, Jr. DePaul University: Executive Director of the International Human Rights Law Institute, Professor of International Human Rights Law, and Director, Jeanne and Joseph Sullivan Programme on Human Rights in the Americas. Formerly, Counsel, Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Navy (1973-1976); Staff Counsel (1976-1982) and General Counsel (1982-1992), Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a not-for-profit legal centre in Chicago involved in litigation and research on civil rights, civil liberties and other legal issues. Travels regularly to Central America for matters involving human rights. Official observer (1991) on behalf of the American Bar Association at the trial in El Salvador of the military personnel accused of murdering the Jesuit priests and two women at the Central American University in 1989. Has published articles on international human rights law in specialized reviews and other periodicals. BA in Economics, Yale University; JD (1972), Harvard Law School, where served as editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

Guillermo Fernández de Soto. Colombian, age 40, married, three children. BA in Law and Economics, Xaverian University of Bogotá and Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia. Formerly, Legal Adviser to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (1979-1985). Consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (1987). Head, United Nations technical mission for the drafting of the Special Plan of Economic Cooperation for Central America (1988). Executive Director of the "Foro Interamericano" Centre for International Studies (1988-1990). Currently Dean of the Faculty of International Studies of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogotá; Secretary-General of Nueva Fuerza Democrática in Colombia. Author of various books on international politics.

Luis Herrera Marcano. Venezuelan. LLD, Central University of Venezuela. Ambassador. Former International Policy Director and Legal Counsel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela. Professor of International Law, Central University of Venezuela. Former Director of the School of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Juridical and Political Sciences. Member and former President, Inter-American Legal Committee.

Robert E. Norris. United States national. Lecturer, Stephen F. Austin State University, and Managing Attorney, East Texas Legal Services. Ph.D. in Ibero-American Studies, University of New Mexico, and JD, University of Texas Law School, Austin. Senior Human Rights Specialist, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; contributed to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights study The Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Co-author of the textbook Protecting Human Rights in the Americas: Selected Problems, and of a series of volumes entitled Human Rights: the Inter-American System. Lecturer at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg (1979 1990) and at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (1990-1992).

III. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Patricia Tappatá de Valdez. Born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Researcher and consultant on human rights issues in Latin America. BA in Social Work, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, National University of Córdoba. Studies towards an MA in Political Science, Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), Buenos Aires. Director, Human Rights Department of the Episcopal Commission for Social Action of Peru (1977-1987). Adviser to the Peace Commission of the Office of the President of Peru (1985-1986). Founder and member of the Executive Committee of the National Human Rights Federation in Peru (1985-1987). Fellowship from the International Human Rights Programme (1988). Since 1991, coordinator of the "Justice in Argentina" programme of the Citizens' Foundation in Buenos Aires.

IV. CONSULTANTS AND RESEARCHERS

Carlos Chipoco. Born in Lima, Peru. LLB summa cum laude from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. LLM, Harvard Law School and MA in International Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (1990). Professor, Faculty of Law, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and National University of San Marcos. Visiting Professor, School of Law, University of Puerto Rico. Adviser to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights before the Inter American Court of Human Rights. Former Director of the Legal Defence Institute of Peru (1983-1988) and fellow of Americas Watch (1988-1989). Author of En Defensa de la Vida. Ensayos sobre Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario (CEP, Lima).

Mabel Colalongo. Argentine national. Procurator and lawyer, graduated from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Buenos Aires, 1984. Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Buenos Aires and National University of Lomas de Zamora. Appointed to the Procurator's Office of the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court of Buenos Aires (1985-1987; 1991 1992). UNDP consultant to the commission set up to reform the national criminal prosecution system in Argentina. Chief, Judicial Department of the Sub-Secretariat for Human Rights (1984-1986).

Jayni Edelstein. United States national. BA with distinction, University of Wisconsin (1988), and JD, New York Law School (1992). Worked for three years for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, New York. Internships with the International Commission of Jurors (Geneva) and the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Colombia), and clerkships in the United States Court of International Trade, New York, and the United States District Court, Eastern District, New York.

Stener Ekern. Norwegian. BA in Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway (1986). Project Coordinator, FAFO International. Project Officer, programme for assistance to indigenous peoples of the Central American area, Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), NGO Division. Formerly, Project Officer for the Central American area, CARITAS Norway.

Guillermo Arturo Fernández-Maldonado Castro. Born in Lima, Peru. LLB, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and LLD cum laude, University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain. MA in Public Administration, National Institute of Public Administration, Spain; Visiting Professor, 1987. External Studies Diploma in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Academy of International Law, The Hague. Graduate in international relations from the International Studies Society of Madrid. Since 1987, Professor in the Faculty of Law and on the MA programmes in constitutional law and international law, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Legal adviser to the Senate of Peru (1982-1992). Since 1988, chief adviser to the Senate Special Committee on the Causes of Violence and Peaceful Alternatives in Peru; chief adviser to the Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1991).

Alfredo Waldo Forti. Argentine national. BA cum laude in International Relations, American University, Washington, D.C. Senior Fellow of the Center for International Policy, Washington, D.C. Former Director of the Committee on United States-Latin American Relations, The International Center, Washington, D.C. (1986-1992). Consultant to agencies of the Argentine Government (1989-1991) and consultant on electoral issues for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Georgetown University. Former coordinator of the Latin American Human Rights Secretariat, Caracas, Venezuela (1978-1980).

Lauren Gilbert. United States national. BA magna cum laude in Government, Harvard University (1983). JD cum laude, University of Michigan (1988). Associate, Arnold & Porter law firm, Washington, D.C. (1988-1991). Pro Bono Service Award from the International Human Rights Law Group for monitoring the elections in Chile (1990). Adviser to the Venezuelan Government on its accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and on the drafting of an anti-dumping law. Received a Fulbright award to study the Americas Initiative in Costa Rica and taught a course in foreign trade at the School of International Relations of the National University in Heredia (1991). Worked with the Deputy Director of the Inter American Institute of Human Rights on the peace process in El Salvador (1992).

Juan Gabriel Gómez Albarello. Born in Ibagué, Colombia, in 1968. LLB from the External Studies University of Colombia (1989). Adviser to Francisco Rojas Birry, the indigenous delegate to the National Constituent Assembly, and researcher for the Committee to Overcome Violence. Won second prize in a Latin American essay contest on legal criticism and alternative uses of the law, organized by the Inter-American Legal Services Association (ILSA) in 1989, and first prize in the essay contest on the new Colombian Constitution organized by the Department of Public Law of the External Studies University of Colombia in 1992.

Javier Hernández Valencia. Born in Lima, Peru. LLB from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Adviser to the Senate of Peru (1985-1990) and member of the Senate Legislative Research Centre (1992). Team member of the congressional commission of inquiry into the 1986 prison massacres in Lima (1987). Adviser to the Ministry of Education (1990), and to the National Planning Institute on Project SITOD concerning government decision making (1991). Researcher for the IDS Institute for Popular Politics in Lima since 1988: has developed institutional reform projects to promote peace in Peru. Has published various articles on the subject in Peru.

Sergio Hevia Larenas. Born in Santiago, Chile. BA Juridical and Social Sciences, Faculty of Law, University of Chile. Specialized studies in criminology and forensic medicine. Legal adviser and staff member of the Vicaría de la Solidaridad of the Archdiocese of Santiago.

Elena Jenny-Williams. Swiss national born in Panama. MA, Harvard University (1967), LLB, University of Geneva (1984). Legal consultant on private law, international law, criminal law and tax law. Has participated in missions in Europe and Latin America.

Felipe Raúl Michelini Delle Piane. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Doctorate in Law and Social Sciences, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of the Republic, Montevideo (1987). LLM, Columbia University School of Law, New York (1992). Former legal adviser to victims in Uruguay and before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Professor of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of the Republic, Montevideo (1991). Professor of Legal Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, University of the Republic, Montevideo (1988). Member of the Centre for Labour and Social Research and Advisory Services (CEALS), Uruguay.

Theodore J. Piccone. United States national. BA magna cum laude in History, University of Pennsylvania, 1984. JD, Columbia University School of Law (1990); former Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Human Rights Law Review. International Fellow, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Former Director, Youth Policy Institute. Congressional assistance in United States Congress and rapporteur in the Council on Foreign Relations. Law clerk for Federal Judge Stanley S. Brotman (United States District Court of New Jersey and District Court of the Virgin Islands). Summer associate, Patton, Boggs & Blow, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel and Dewey, Ballantine (Washington, D.C.). Currently, Litigation Associate, Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Clifford C. Rohde. United States national. Graduated with special distinction from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, majoring in Latin American History. Completed one year of study at the National Law Center, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Since 1988, researcher for Americas Watch on Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia.

Carlos Somigliana. Argentine national. Forensic anthropologist, member of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropologists since 1987, and as such served as an expert in Guatemala. Co-author of various articles on forensic anthropology. Worked in the Procurator's Office of the Federal Criminal Court of the Argentine Republic (1985-1987). Studied law and anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires.

Ana María Tello. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Researcher and lecturer in History and Social Sciences. Human rights documents librarian. Worked with the Centre for Latin American Studies (CEL) of the University of the Republic, Montevideo (1986). Graduate of the Artigas Teachers Institute, Montevideo, 1986. Guidance counsellor and lecturer, Institutes for Advanced Technical Training, Labour University of Uruguay, Montevideo (1981).

Lucía Carmen Vásquez Rodríguez. Born in Lima, Peru. BA in Social Work from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Has worked with the Episcopal Commission for Social Action in Peru since 1983: Director of the Human Rights Department (1987-1989) and the Solidarity and Development Department (1990-1991). Member of the Executive Committee of the Office of the National Human Rights Federation (1987-1989). Adviser to the Archdiocese of Lima on its programmes of pastoral work in prisons.

V. PERSONAL ASSISTANTS TO THE COMMISSIONERS

Lourdes Margarita Cobo de Zambrano. Born in Caracas, Venezuela. MA in Political Science, Central University of Venezuela (1979). MA in Political Science, Simón Bolívar University (1981). Has worked in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela. Member of the Board and researcher, Venezuelan Institute of International Relations (IVRI). Former consultant, Tinker Foundation, Commission for State Reform in Venezuela (COPRE). Edited and contributed to Análisis, a specialized review of the Pedro Gual Diplomatic Academy. Author of "La Política de Fronteras hacia Colombia: Toma de Decisiones, Disgregación y Consenso; El Estudio de las Relaciones Internacionales en Venezuela; Prioridades de la Política Exterior de Venezuela para el Año 2000.

Alba Reyes. Colombian, age 35, economist, married, two children. Assistance in the Office of the President of Colombia (1982-1986). Personal assistant to former President Betancur (1986-1993).

Abigail Mellin. United States national. BA magna cum laude, Southwestern University; JD candidate, George Washington University National Law Center (May 1993). Studied at the Institute for Comparative Politics and Economic Systems, Goldsmith's College, University of London. Former legislative assistance to Senator Tejeda, State Assembly, Texas, and programme coordinator for The Fund for American Studies, Washington, D.C. Has also worked with the House Ways and Means Committee and the Congressional Sunbelt Caucus.

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Posted by USIP Library on: January 26, 2001
Source: UN Security Council, Annex, From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador: Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, S/25500, 1993, 193-200.