STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE/REX TILLERSON: “The State Department office charged with combating war crimes may become the latest casualty of Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s plans to restructure his department, former American officials said on Tuesday [7-18-17].
Human rights advocates seized on the proposal as another example of what they assert is the Trump administration’s indifference to human rights outside North Korea, Iran and Cuba.
They also say that shutting the Office of Global Criminal Justice, as the war crimes bureau is officially known, would hamper efforts to publicize atrocities and bring war criminals to justice…
Mr. Tillerson has not made final decisions on how to restructure the agency, a State Department spokeswoman said, adding that the goal is not to play down war crimes but to make the department’s efforts more effective, including in combating atrocities…
Though the State Department insists that a final decision has not been made, a former official said that Todd F. Buchwald, who succeeded Mr. Rapp at the war crimes office, had told his staff that he was being reassigned by Mr. Tillerson’s team and that the office’s responsibilities would soon be transferred to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.”
-Michael R. Gordon and Marlise Simons, “War Crimes Office May Be Closed in State Dept. Reorganization,” The New york Times online, July 18, 2017