Canadian Jurist New Ombudsman for UN's Terrorist List

[The Bread Guy]

This from the Canadian Press:

A Canadian lawyer and judge said Thursday her new office is ready to receive complaints from people, companies and organizations who feel they have been wrongly blacklisted and subjected to U.N. sanctions for their ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Kimberly Prost, who took up her post on Monday as the first "ombudsperson" for a U.N. sanctions committee, pledged that her office will be independent and accessible, and she said she welcomes submissions from anyone who wants to be taken off the list.

"The objective of this position is to provide individuals affected by this sanctions regime, organizations and entities, with an avenue, with a measure for recourse in order to provide fundamental fairness to the process," she told a news conference.

Since the Security Council imposed sanctions against the Taliban a decade ago and later extended them to al-Qaida, questions have been raised about the fairness of the list and the rights of those subject to punitive measures to argue their case for being removed. In December, the Security Council unanimously approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution which established an independent and impartial ombudsperson appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to address the issue.

It calls for the ombudsperson to gather information, speak to the petitioner trying to get off the list, and present a comprehensive report to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against the Taliban and al-Qaida with the ombudsperson's own observations.

Prost said she won't be making a recommendation on whether the person or entity should be removed from the list but she will be presenting "a thorough analysis of the case."

"I'm confident that the representations that I do make, the observations I make, will be taken into consideration by the committee and I think that's a huge step forward in this developing process," she said ....

A bit of Prost's bio from the U.N. (Canada work highlighted):

.... Ms. Kimberly Prost has served as an ad litem judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia since July 2006.

In March 2005, Judge Prost joined the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as Chief, Legal Advisory Section.  In that position she led a team responsible for assisting countries with the legal implementation of the drug, crime and terrorism conventions and the related delivery of technical assistance projects.  Under her direction the section provided legal advice to the International Narcotics Control Board and to various sections of UNODC on proposed projects.

In July 2000, Judge Prost joined the Commonwealth Secretariat as Head of the Criminal Law Section.  In that capacity she provided advice to the Executive Committee and to the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, in addition to delivering a range of assistance programs for member countries on counter-terrorism, human rights protections in criminal investigations, international cooperation, anti-money-laundering and asset forfeiture, implementation of the Rome Statute and of Security Council Resolution 1373 and combating corruption and organized crime.

Previously, Judge Prost worked for the Canadian Department of Justice for almost twenty years as a federal prosecutor.  She appeared as counsel in both provincial and federal trial and appellate courts and she argued several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada.  She provided advice to police, investigators and prosecutors, in a range of criminal cases and in security and intelligence matters.  She prepared various opinions on and argued several cases related to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

For ten years Judge Prost worked in the International Assistance Group, Canada’s central authority for international criminal cooperation matters, serving as Director of the group for seven years.  In that capacity, she participated in the negotiation of over 40 extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties.

Judge Prost was a member of the Canadian delegation for the negotiation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimeand the United Nations Convention against Corruption,two significant conventions developed under the auspices of UNODC.  She was, as well, on the Canadian delegation for the negotiation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the related Rules of Procedure and Evidence and Elements of Crime ....

Sounds like this guy finally has an ear in New York:
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/86495
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/77857