AJC's Felice Gaer Elected to Fourth Term on UN Committee Against Torture

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Oct 18, 2011, 01:54 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Felice Gaer has been reelected today to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) for an unprecedented fourth four-year term. She currently serves as vice-chair of the Geneva-based committee. Gaer is director of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights.

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"Global recognition of Felice Gaer's expertise in, and dedication to, advancing human rights protections is enormously gratifying, a testament to her exemplary leadership in furthering AJC's commitment to human rights," said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

The CAT is an international treaty monitoring body consisting of ten independent experts who review compliance by governments with the terms of the UN Convention Against Torture. The 149 countries that are parties to that convention are required to implement a number of protective policies and subject themselves to scrutiny by the committee. Gaer has been the lead investigator on China, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, among other countries.

Gaer, the only American serving on the CAT, was first nominated by the Clinton Administration in 1999, re-nominated by the Bush Administration in 2003 and 2007, and now by the Obama Administration. Her reelection today makes Gaer the longest serving American elected to any UN human rights body.

AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, founded in 1971, conducts research and advocacy to strengthen international human rights protections and institutions. E. Robert Goodkind is the current chair of the JBI Administrative Council.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee