Felice D. Gaer
Encyclopedia
Felice D. Gaer is an American
expert on human rights
and a longstanding member and the former chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
.
Gaer directs the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee
, which conducts research and advocacy to strengthen international human rights. Gaer has served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom since 2000. Nominated by the Clinton administration and renominated by the Bush administration and Obama administration, she had served as chair for three terms, had served as Vice Chair for three terms, and had served one term of the Executive Committee. Her current appointment was made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
.
Gaer was the first American to serve as an Independent Expert on the United Nations Committee Against Torture
. There, she had been Vice Chair, General Rapporteur
(2006–2008), and year-round Rapporteur on Follow-up to Country Conclusions. Gaer is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
.
Born in Englewood, N.J., Gaer is a graduate of Wellesley College with an A.B. in Political Science (1968). From Columbia University
, she received a Master of Arts degree in 1971 and a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science in 1975.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
expert on human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and a longstanding member and the former chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate...
.
Gaer directs the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, which conducts research and advocacy to strengthen international human rights. Gaer has served on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom since 2000. Nominated by the Clinton administration and renominated by the Bush administration and Obama administration, she had served as chair for three terms, had served as Vice Chair for three terms, and had served one term of the Executive Committee. Her current appointment was made by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
.
Gaer was the first American to serve as an Independent Expert on the United Nations Committee Against Torture
United Nations Convention Against Torture
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is an international human rights instrument, under the review of the United Nations, that aims to prevent torture around the world....
. There, she had been Vice Chair, General Rapporteur
Rapporteur
Rapporteur is used in international and European legal and political contexts to refer to a person appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue or a situation....
(2006–2008), and year-round Rapporteur on Follow-up to Country Conclusions. Gaer is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
Born in Englewood, N.J., Gaer is a graduate of Wellesley College with an A.B. in Political Science (1968). From Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, she received a Master of Arts degree in 1971 and a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science in 1975.