Human Rights Brief
A Legal Resource for the International Human Rights CommunityWCL Bids Farewell to Rochus Pronk
by Brian D. Tittemore
In June of 1997, Rochus Pronk, Legal Coordinator of the War Crimes Research Office (WCRO), Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, left WCL to assume a new position with the Foreign Ministry in The Netherlands. Rochus, an attorney from Holland, was instrumental in establishing the WCRO, following his graduation from the LL.M. Program at WCL in 1995.
His vision was to establish an institutionalized research facility to which the Office of the Prosecutor for the International War Crimes Tribunals (OTP) could refer international humanitarian law research projects, for analysis by WCL faculty and students. Through Rochus' efforts, and the support of Dean Claudio Grossman, Professors Herman Schwartz, Robert Goldman, and Diane Orentlicher, and the Center's Executive Director, Robert Guitteau, among others, the OTP agreed to submit research projects to the WCRO. The Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute (OSI) granted funding for the Project. OSI funding was subsequently renewed and increased for the Project's second year of operation. The WCRO was expanded to include an additional attorney, administrative staff and the capacity to retain expert consultants and provide research assistance to additional international clients. The WCRO has also played a significant role in attracting students from around the world to WCL's J.D. and LL.M. programs, by providing students with a unique opportunity to study international humanitarian law and to contribute to the enforcement of international law through practical projects.
In pursuing his vision of the WCRO, Rochus left WCL with a valuable legacy, and made many lasting friendships along the way. We will miss his comradeship, and wish him the best of luck in his new career.
The proper citation for an article in the Human Rights Brief Volume 5, Issue 1, beginning at page 51 would be: 5 No. 1 Hum. Rts. Brief 51 (1997).
