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John Clint Williamson (born August 8, 1961) is an American diplomat, lawyer, and educator who has served in a variety of senior-level roles with the
United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...
, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. He currently serves as the Senior Director for International Justice at
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
, on a joint appointment between the Law Center and the Department of Government. Ambassador Williamson heads the US Department of State-funded project at Georgetown that provides support to the Ukrainian government in its investigation and prosecution of crimes arising from the current conflict. He is the Lead Coordinator of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), the agreed trans-Atlantic community mechanism for addressing atrocity crimes in Ukraine. In this capacity he coordinates, on behalf of the EU, UK and US governments, the work of the five implementing entities that comprise ACA.


Biography

Ambassador Williamson was born in
Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2020 population was 22,166. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Ruston is the prin ...
. He holds a bachelor's degree from
Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...
and a J.D. degree from
Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...
. Williamson served as a Trial Attorney in the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
Organized Crime Section and as an Assistant District Attorney in
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. From 1994 to 2001, he worked as a Trial Attorney at the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
(ICTY) in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. While at the ICTY, he supervised investigations and field operations in the Balkans, compiled indictments, and prosecuted cases at trial. Among the cases handled by Ambassador Williamson were those against
Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...
and the notorious paramilitary leader
Zeljko Raznatovic Željko Ražnatović (, ; 17 April 1952 – 15 January 2000), better known as Arkan (), was a Serbian warlord, mobster and head of the Serb paramilitary force called the Serb Volunteer Guard during the Yugoslav Wars, considered one of the most f ...
, aka "Arkan," as well as cases arising from the Yugoslav Army attacks on
Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...
and
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
. He also planned and supervised execution of the first arrest operation of an indicted war criminal by international peacekeeping forces, resulting in the capture of
Slavko Dokmanovic Slavko () is a Slavic masculine given name. Notable holders of the name include: Arts * Slavko Avsenik, Slovenian musician * Slavko Avsenik, Jr., Slovenian musician * Slavko Brankov, Croatian actor * Slavko Brill, Croatian Jewish sculptor * Slavk ...
by UN forces in Eastern Slavonia. From late-2001 through 2002, Williamson served in the UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) (French: ''Département des opérations de maintien de la paix'') is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management, and direction of United Nations peacekeeping, ...
as the Director of the Department of Justice in the
United Nations Mission in Kosovo The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Привремена административна мисија Уједињених нација на Косову, Privremena administrativna misija Ujedinjenih na ...
(UNMIK), during the period when the UN retained executive authority over justice and police matters. In his role as the functional minister of justice, he supervised the court system, the prosecutorial service, the missing persons and forensics departments and the prison system. Williamson served as the
Special Assistant to the President Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces Mi ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization, and Development at the
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
(NSC). From 2003 to 2004 he served as Director for Trans-National Threats in the Counter-Terrorism Directorate, and from 2004 to 2005, he served as the Director for Stability Operations on the NSC staff in the Defense Policy Directorate. During his tenure at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, he was instrumental in developing the proposal for creation of a standing U.S. Government post-conflict response capability, which was realized with the establishment of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (now the
Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations The Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) is a bureau of the United States Department of State. Mission CSO’s mission is to anticipate, prevent, and respond to conflict that undermines U.S. national interests. The bureau i ...
) in the State Department in mid-2004.Arizona State University
biographical note
While with the NSC, Ambassador Williamson served a rotation in
Baghdad, Iraq Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, from April–August 2003 as the first Senior Adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice. In this capacity, he was responsible for re-instituting judicial operations and ministry functions in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion and for managing the ministry until appointment of an interim Iraqi minister in July 2003. From his confirmation by the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
in June 2006 until September 2009, he served as the
United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues The United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice is the head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the United States Department of State. The ambassador-at-large advises the United States Secretary of State and the Under S ...
, with the rank of an
Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political aff ...
. In this capacity, he coordinated U.S. Government efforts to further accountability for serious violations of
international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict or the laws of war, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''wikt:jus in bello, jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit ...
throughout the world and led U.S. Government efforts to prevent and respond to mass atrocities. He was the third person to hold this title. From June 2010 to September 2011, Ambassador Williamson served as a Special Expert to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
, focused primarily on the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. In October 2011, he was appointed to serve as the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
's Special Prosecutor, examining allegations of war crimes committed by
Kosovo Albanians The Albanians of Kosovo (, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars (), constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the Albanians, ethnic Albanian sub-group of Ghegs, who inhabit the ...
during and in the aftermath of the 1999 war in Kosovo. The most prominent charges involved allegations that individuals associated with the
Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...
(KLA) murdered Serb prisoners for the purpose of harvesting and trafficking their bodily organs. As Special Prosecutor, he headed the multi-national EU Special Investigative Task Force (SITF) which has responsibility for conducting this investigation and bringing any prosecutions that are warranted. On 29 July 2014, in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, he announced SITF's investigative findings. In this statement, he indicated that "certain senior officials of the former KLA bear responsibility for a campaign of persecution that was directed at the ethnic Serb, Roma, and other minority populations of Kosovo and toward fellow Kosovo Albanians whom they labeled as political opponents." He went on to say that these acts of persecution effectively resulted in the ethnic cleansing of large portions of the Serb and Roma populations from Kosovo and that these crimes were not the acts of rogue individuals acting on their own accord, but rather that they were conducted in an organized fashion and were sanctioned by the KLA leadership. He added that the widespread or systematic nature of these crimes justifies a prosecution for crimes against humanity. As to the organ trafficking allegations, he said that "there are compelling indications that this practice did occur on a very limited scale and that a small number of individuals were killed for the purpose of extracting and trafficking their organs." He stated that SITF's findings were largely consistent with those in the Marty Report, but that the investigation had not yet secured a level of evidence sufficient to charge those crimes. He concluded by saying that this aspect of the investigation was still ongoing, and that SITF would continue to vigorously pursue these allegations. Upon his retirement from the U.S. Department of State in September 2014, Ambassador Williamson joined the faculty of the
Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (ASU Law) is the law school at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. Created in 1965 as the Arizona State Unive ...
at
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...
, where he served as a Distinguished Professor of Practice and as Senior Director for International Rule of Law and Security at the university's McCain Institute for International Leadership, based in
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. In September 2022, he left Arizona State to take up his current appointment at Georgetown University. In January 2017, Williamson was appointed as the Presiding Arbitrator of the Arbitral Tribunal for Dispute over the Inter-Entity Boundary in Brčko Area by
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
President
Ronny Abraham Ronny Abraham (; born 5 September 1951) is a French academic and practitioner in the field of public international law who was elected to the International Court of Justice, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of judge and former Presi ...
, following the death of former Presiding Arbitrator
Roberts Bishop Owen Roberts Bishop Owen (February 11, 1926 – March 10, 2016) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He served as Legal Adviser of the Department of State from 1979 to 1981 and acted as a mediator and arbitrator in several international disputes. Ea ...
.


References

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External links


Statement by the Chief Prosecutor Clint Williamson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, John Clint United States ambassadors-at-large for war crimes issues American lawyers Tulane University alumni Tulane University Law School alumni Louisiana Tech University alumni United States ambassadors-at-large Living people 1961 births