Dedication to Ms Felice Gaer
This book is dedicated to Ms Felice Gaer Baran
Indefatigable champion of the cause of universal human rights.
Distinguished long-serving Member of the Committee Against Torture
Who gave so many years of service to the Committee
And who vigorously supported the independence of the human rights treaty bodies.
Felice Gaer Baran was an internationally renowned human rights expert who for more than four decades brought life and practical significance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international commitments to prevent grave human rights abuses around the world.
She was the Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights (jbi).
She was a pillar of the human rights movement and a a highly regarded champion of the universal human rights agenda. Throughout her career, in myriad roles, Gaer insisted that governments and the United Nations should consistently condemn the practices of tyrants and authoritarians and recognize that many forms of harm and inequality once considered ‘internal affairs’ of states as human rights abuses. Gaer’s influence established more protective interpretations of human rights norms from within and outside the United Nations human rights system. She effectively advocated for the creation and evolution of numerous international institutions and processes that play a critical role today in monitoring states’ human rights practices and holding violators to account.
Gaer achieved international recognition among human rights advocates as a force multiplier capable of overcoming the obstacles within government bureaucracies and multilateral institutions that often allow perpetrators of egregious abuses to avoid scrutiny and condemnation.
Gaer began her career at the Ford Foundation as a program officer in 1974, focusing on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; subsequently, her areas also included arms control and human rights. At Ford, she became heavily involved in advocacy for the rights of Soviet Jewish refuseniks and encouraging broader internal changes that would catalyze greater respect for human rights for all in the Soviet Union. She maintained a passion for championing individual rights defenders while expanding her geographical focus.
As the Executive Director of the International League for Human Rights from 1982 to 1991, Gaer championed human rights defenders throughout Latin America, particularly in Chile and Venezuela. She then served as Director of European Programs for the United Nations Association of the
Gaer served for nine terms as an appointed “public member” of official U.S. government delegations to United Nations meetings between 1993 and 1999, including six U.S. delegations to meetings of the
Gaer also played a critical role in bringing about the conceptual and political victory achieved for women’s rights at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing – at which the
In 1999, Gaer became the first American and first woman to serve on the 10-person United Nations Committee against Torture, an expert body that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture. She was elected by States Parties to five four-year terms as an independent expert member and vice-chair of the Committee from 1999 to 2019, an unpaid position which she held concurrently with her other professional roles.
Over her 20 years on the United Nations Committee against Torture, Gaer insisted that the Committee and all other
Her rigorous and unsparing critiques – and her practice of inquiring about alleged victims of torture and arbitrarily imprisoned lawyers and advocates by name in public meetings turned what might otherwise have been pro-forma exercises into valuable opportunities for advocates to secure formal
Gaer’s efforts also led to a transformation in the Committee against Torture’s approach to the issue of violence against women, which previously was seen only as often a private matter rather than a form of torture or ill treatment for which perpetrators should be punished and victims of which are entitled to redress. The Committee became an important avenue for women’s rights advocates seeking to compel governments to develop more effective national capacities to protect women from violence, as well as members of vulnerable groups such as religious minorities and lgbtqi persons. These efforts brought significant public attention to previously overlooked issues in several countries.
Gaer also championed the rights of religious minorities and victims of violence justified in the name of religion in countries around the world. Gaer was appointed and served five terms as an independent expert member of the bipartisan federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2001-2012, including as its chair. In that capacity, Gaer traveled to countries ranging from Sudan and Egypt to China to Afghanistan, directly pressing government officials to change policies and practices. She testified frequently before Congress and organizations including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on religious freedom issues.
Gaer’s commitment to universality also inspired her to work for decades to get the United Nations to recognize antisemitism as a serious human rights concern and to recognize the Holocaust as its most violent manifestation.
Gaer not only shared her wisdom and practical experience with colleagues but also convened numerous strategy discussions and facilitated the work of hundreds of human rights defenders, advocates, and other independent
A prolific author of over 40 published articles and book chapters and Co-editor of the volume “The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Conscience for the World,” Gaer received the American Society of International Law’s Honorary Member Award in 2023, an Honorary Doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2018, and the First Freedom Center’s prestigious National First Freedom Award for her religious freedom advocacy in 2010. Gaer’s jbi was also named a “Champion of Prevention” by the
One Felice was born on June 16, 1946 in Englewood, New Jersey. She was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and pursued her graduate studies in political science at Columbia University’s Russian Institute (now Harriman Institute), where she received a Master of Arts degree in 1971 and a Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science in 1975. In 1975, she married Dr. Henryk Baran, a professor at the State University of New York-Albany.