Stephen Rapp

Stephen J. Rapp (born January 26, 1949)[1] is an American lawyer, academic and former politician who served as United States ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice.

In 2001, he joined the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where he led the prosecution in the "media trial" against the leaders of the RTLM radio station and Kangura newspaper for inciting the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

[3] Secretary of State Madeleine Albright created the position of ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues in 1997 in order to bring focus in American foreign policy to the twin imperatives of enabling the prevention of, and ensuring accountability for, atrocities around the world.

The ambassador-at-large coordinates the deployment of a range of diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and intelligence tools to help expose the truth, judge those responsible, protect and assist victims, enable reconciliation, and build the rule of law.

In an interview with the CBS newsmagazine 60 minutes about ongoing war crimes investigations on Syria, Rapp stated that there was more incriminating evidence against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad "than we had against the Nazis at Nuremberg" due to the existence of official documents and photographs that were smuggled out of the country.

Stephen J. Rapp and Michele J. Sison , US ambassador to Sri Lanka are discussing with E. Saravanapavan , managing director of the Uthayan newspaper and M. V. Kanamaylnathan, Editor-in-chief at Uthayan Newspapers's Office in Jaffna on 8 January 2014. Some of the bullet holes and portraits of slain staff are visible on the wall behind them.