Doru Romulus Costea is best known as President of the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

. Costea served as president from 19 June 2007 to 18 June 2008. His main task was to initiate the

Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of al ...

of the human rights records of the then 192 member states of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Personal details

Costea was born 22 September 1953 at

Cehu Silvaniei Cehu Silvaniei (, until 1854 , meaning "Czechs of Szilágy") is a town in Sălaj County, Crișana, Romania. Four villages are administered by the town: Horoatu Cehului (''Oláhhorvát''), Motiș (''Mutos''), Nadiș (''Szilágynádasd'') and Ulciug ...

, Salaj,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He is married and has one son.

Education

Costea attended the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

where his principal studies were

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. He took a one-year post-graduate course in International Law at the Academy of Political Science.

Career

In 1976, Costea was briefly a desk officer for PRODEXPORT Foreign Trade Company. From 1976 to 1989, he was an interpreter at the International Center for Political Studies. In 1990, he became the Deputy Director for the Department of Middle East and North Africa in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...

. From 1991 to 1995, he served as Romania's ambassador to the

State of Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and the

Sultanate of Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Director of the Policy Planning Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1997 to 2001, he served as Romania's ambassador to the

Arab Republic of Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. From 2001 to 2003, Costea was the Director of the Department of Analysis and Information in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In December 2003, he became the Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations Office and to international organizations in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

. From to he was Romanian Ambassador in China.

United Nations Human Rights Council

The

appointed Costea to be its president at the same time as it approved a set of procedures known as the

. In September 2007, Costea took part in the selection of the first countries to be reviewed. During Costea's presidency, the Council considered the political situations in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

, discussed the "world food crisis", and received the first reports produced under the Universal Periodic Review; the Council held a general debate on racism and racial discrimination, and discussed the follow-up to

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action The 2001 World Conference against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban I, was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, under UN auspices, from 31 August to 8 September 2001. The conference covered several c ...

. Also during Costea's presidency, the Council took the controversial decision to appoint Richard A. Falk to a six-year term as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costea, Doru Romulus Romanian officials of the United Nations 1953 births Living people Permanent Representatives of Romania to the United Nations Ambassadors of Romania to Kuwait Ambassadors of Romania to Oman Ambassadors of Romania to Egypt Ambassadors of Romania to China