Richard Schifter (July 31, 1923 – October 4, 2020) was an Austrian-American attorney and diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs from 1985 to 1992.

Richard Schifter was born in Vienna, Austria, on July 31, 1923, into a Jewish family from Poland.

[4] After the Battle of the Bulge, he was stationed in Aachen and tasked with interviewing the civilian population, thus producing one of the first studies of daily life under the Third Reich.

After Senate Confirmation, Schifter served as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs from October 31, 1985, until April 3, 1992.

[9] After the election of Bill Clinton, he was appointed to special assistant to the United States National Security Council.

[11] Since leaving government in 2001, Schifter headed the American Jewish International Relations Institute and the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in Southeastern Europe.