Rafael Nieto Navia (born 5 February 1938) is a Colombian jurist, political scientist and professor. He was President of the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a huma ...

between 1993-1994. Furthermore he has served as Judge of 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 that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

and he has served as Ambassador of Colombia to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with dual accreditation to Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Legal career

Nieto has served as Judge of the

for more than five years. Four of them as a member of the Appeals Chamber and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and more than one year as a member of the Trial Chambers. He served as Judge of the

for twelve years, and he was President of the same for three and a half years. He also served as Auxiliary Magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber of the

Supreme Court of Colombia The Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia ( es, Corte Suprema de Justicia de Colombia) in Bogotá is the highest judicial body in civil and penal matters and issues of criminal and civil procedure in Colombia. The Supreme Court of Colombia is th ...

for four years.

Ambassadorship

On 7 January 2009

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and ...

announced that Nieto had been appointed Ambassador to Sweden by President Álvaro Uribe Vélez, stating that Nieto was a "''super internationalist, very well respected, and with a lot of tradition''" . Chancellor Bermúdez sworn him in the next month on 10 February as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Colombia to the Kingdom of Sweden serving concurrently as Non-Resident Ambassador to the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...

, the Republic of Finland, and the

Republic of Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its sur ...

. Nieto moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

shortly after to take up his office, officially presenting his Letters of Credence to His Majesty

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Du ...

King of Sweden on 13 May 2009; as Non-Resident Ambassador, he presented his credentials to the President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson on 9 February 2010, and to Her Majesty Margrethe II Queen of Denmark on 15 February 2010.

Personal life

Nieto was born on 5 February 1938 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, D.C. to Eduardo Nieto Umaña (22 November 1904 - 14 January 1946) and Teresa Navia Harker (22 August 1904 - 27 April 1991). He married María Teresa Loaiza Cubides on 28 August 1965. They have four children: Rafael, Juan Carlos, Pablo, and María Teresa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieto Navia, Rafael 1938 births Living people People from Bogotá Pontifical Xavierian University alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Xavierian University 20th-century Colombian judges 21st-century Colombian judges International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda judges International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia judges Ambassadors of Colombia to Denmark Ambassadors of Colombia to Finland Ambassadors of Colombia to Iceland Ambassadors of Colombia to Sweden Inter-American Court of Human Rights judges Colombian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Colombian judges of international courts and tribunals