SUSI ON U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: PARAMARIBO, SURINAME

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000059

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR ECA/A/E/USS SANDA CHAO AND BRENDAN WALSH
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR JROSHOLT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OEXC SCUL KPAO NS
SUBJECT: SUSI ON U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: PARAMARIBO, SURINAME

REF: SECSTATE 155055


1. (SBU) Post is pleased to submit the following information for the
candidate nomination.


A. Nominee's full name as it appears on passport;
Last name: Rudge
First name: Eric
Middle name: Patrick


B. Date of birth (Month, Day, Year):
November 16, 1960


C. City of birth:
Paramaribo


D. Country of birth:
Suriname


E. Country of Residence:
Suriname


F. Country of Citizenship:
Suriname


G. Home address:
Kromanti Kodjostraat hoek Aboenawrokostraat 19,
Geyersvlijt, Paramaribo, Suriname
Telephone:(597) 465558 ext 494/493 (work),(597)455363 (home),(597)
88 35 621 (Cell)
E-mail: e.rudge@uvs.edu


H. Gender:
Male


I. Medical, Physical, Dietary or other Personal Considerations:
None


J. Current position and Title:
Professor of Law at the Anton de Kom University of Suriname;
Currently lecturing for the courses

a. Public International Law
b. The Law of Treaties
c. English Law, American Law and Law of the Caribbean.


K. Current Institutional Affiliation and complete address:
Anton de Kom University of Suriname.
Address: Leysweg 86, Paramaribo, Suriname


L. Work Experience, including previous positions and titles;
- 1980-1987: Teacher in mathematics at different levels of
education
- 1987-1993: Staff member at the Central Bank of Suriname, General
Secretariat and Legal Affairs Department

SIPDIS
- 1993-1994: Teacher in mathematics at different levels of
education
- 1995-present: Professor of Law at the Anton De Kom University of
Suriname; currently lecturing: International Law; Previous courses
taught: Introduction to Law, Moot Court (Inter-American Human Rights
System),Human Rights Law, Comparative Law and Introduction to Civil
Law.
- 1999: Appointed Assistant Judge to the High Court of Justice of
Suriname by the president of the Republic of Suriname
- 2002: Appointed as a member of the Presidential Committee of Legal
Experts in Human Rights to advise the government on human rights
matters.
- 2006: Appointed Deputy Agent of the State of Suriname in Case no.
12.338, Twelve Saramaka L's, pending before the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights
- 2007: Appointed by the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States, H.E. Jose Miguel Insulza, to the Network of
Democracy Practitioners in the Western Hemisphere


M. Education, Academic and Professional Training, including degree
earned and fields of specialization:

- November 1989: Anton de Kom University of Suriname, "Meester in de
Rechten"(Mr.) degree in Surinamese Law. Graduation thesis on the
Foreign Exchange Legislation of several Caribbean states.
- February-April 1990: Training on drafting legislation, Anton de
Kom University of Suriname and the University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
- November 1993: Special Training to become a Judge or Prosecutor -
A joint program by the Anton De Kom University of Suriname, the
Department of Justice and Police, the Dutch Training Institute for
Judges and Prosecutors, Stichting Studiecentrum Rechtspleging(SSR),
Zutphen, and The Netherlands
- August 1995-May 1997: The American University, Washington College
of Law, Washington, DC, USA, Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree; relevant
courses: International Law, International Criminal Law,
International Narcotics Control, Trade & Environment, International
Environmental Law, Advanced Human Rights Law, International
Contracts, International Banking
- November-December 1998: The Hague Academy of International Law,
International Course on the Protection of the Human Rights for
Judges, Lawyers and other Legal Practitioners, Peace Palace, The
Hague, The Netherlands.
- October 2000-August 2001: Romulo Gallegos Fellow at the Inter
American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American
States. Primary focus on the Caribbean states, U.S.A and Canada.
- September 2004: training Seminar on International Humanitarian Law
for University Teachers, International Committee of the Red Cross,
and the University Centre for International Humanitarian Law,
Geneva, Switzerland.
- June 2005: 1st Teachers Training and Curriculum Design Workshop
for Universities in the Caribbean, International Committee of the
Red Cross, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
- December 2005: Democracy and Liberty in Contemporary Public
International Law-Democracia Y Libertad en el Derecho International
Contemporano- The Hague Academy of International law and Pontificia
Universidad Catolica del Peru,33rd External International Program
for University Professors, Diplomats and other Officers of Foreign
Affairs, Lima, Peru.
- June 2006: South America Dialogue on WTO dispute Settlement and
Sustainable Development. Exploring Strategies to Enhance the
Participation of Developing Countries in WTO dispute Settlement,
Organized by the ICTSD, IDCID, Ecsola de Dereito de Sao Paolo da
Fundacao Getuilio Vargas and GIAN, Sao Paolo, Brasil.
- September 2006: 2nd Specialized Course of State Employees on the
use of Litigation on the Inter-American System of Human Rights,
organized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American
Institute on Human Rights, San Jose, Costa Rica.
- December 2006: 2nd Teachers Training Curriculum Design Workshop
for Universities in the Caribbean, International Committee of the
Red Cross, Bridgetown, Barbados.
- September 2007: 30th Sanremo Roundtable on Current Issues of
International Humanitarian Law, International Institute of
Humanitarian law (IIHL),International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) and the Italian Government, Sanremo, Italy.


N. Active Professional Memberships:
- Secretary of Suriname Jurist Association
- Secretary of the Editorial Board of Surinaams Juristen Blad-SBJ- a
legal periodical published in Suriname
- Secretary of the Institute of International Relations of the Anton
de Kom University of Suriname
- Member of the Faculty Committee: Border Dispute Suriname-Guyana


O. Publications:
- The Military Judge, published in Surinaams Juristen Blad, December
2007 (Dutch)
- The Issue of Landrights: A Human Rights Perspective, Published in
"Schaal" by the Caribbean Institute, September 2007 (Dutch)
- The Inter-American Commission, Judge on Appeal, Surinaams Juristen
Blad, April 2007 (Dutch)
- Development is an affirmative choice, March 2006 (Dutch)
- The right of prisoners to vote. Is article 58 of the Constitution
in Violation of Contemporary International Law, May 2005 (Dutch)
- Mathematic Assignments for Middle and Higher Education, May 2005
(Dutch)
- "The Cards are distributed?" The election of the Secetary General
of the O.A.S. April 2005 (Dutch)
- Ignorance or unfamiliarity? The border dispute Suriname-Guyana,
February 2005 (Dutch)
- Demonstration of Power in Violation of the General Established
Rules of International law. The War against Iraq. April 2003
(Dutch)
- Suriname and the Inter-American Human Rights System, May 2002
(Dutch and English)


P. Previous Experience in the United States:
- 1995-1997 : Washington, DC, for study at The Washington College of
Law, The American University, the International Legal Studies
Program
- May 2000: Training on human rights and the military, organized by
the Defense University.
- October 2000-2001: Washington, DC, for an in-house training as a
human rights attorney, Romulo Gallegos Fellow at the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights of the
OAS.
- September 2007: Orientation visit with students from the ADEK
University of Suriname to several institutions, organizations and
universities in the USA.


Q. Family Residing in the United States:
Candidate has no immediate family members residing in the USA.


R. Evidence of English Fluency:
Candidate has an excellent command of the English language as
determined by personal conversations with American Embassy
officers.


S. Statement by commission/post justifying participation of nominee
in the Institute:
Mr. Rudge is an experienced Professor teaching international law at
the Anton de Kom University. He is also an active member of the
University Institute of International Relations who works at
strengthening the ties of international organizations with the
University.

(1) Current or projected extent of the U.S. studies content of the
course(s) and materials being taught or developed by the candidate:


The Anton de Kom University is the sole university in Suriname, and
has no specific courses dedicated to U.S. studies. Mr. Rudge is
currently teaching a course on English Law, American Law, and Law of
the Caribbean.

Mr. Rudge is the Embassy's point-man at the Anton de Kom University
to expose Surinamese students to the United States. He has
partnered with the U.S. Embassy on many occasions over the past two
years in order to teach his students about the United States, in
particular our perspectives on international relations and
international law. Examples of his coordination with the Embassy to
expose his students to U.S. issues include: arranging yearly
lectures on the U.S. electoral system by U.S. speakers, and
partnering with the Embassy to organize Ambassador-hosted lunches on
topics such as educational competitions and student trips to the
United States. Post is currently planning a video showing of a
docudrama on trafficking in persons for Mr. Rudge's students, and is
also planning a digital video conference on international crime. In
addition, Mr. Rudge arranged and headed a tour of the United States
with 18 of his students.

Expanding Mr. Rudge's knowledge of U.S. Foreign Policy will be key
to enhancing U.S. Embassy outreach to future leaders of Suriname.
Participation in this program on U.S. Foreign Policy will prepare
Mr. Rudge to pass this information on to his students, and provide
him with ideas on how to include additional U.S.-related issues in
his curriculum. Eventually, this could lead to a course on U.S.
Foreign Policy at the University.

(2)Likely relevance of the program to the professional
responsibilities of the candidate:

Mr. Rudge has responsibility for teaching his students about
international law, but he has worked issues related to the United
States into his curriculum. Many issues related to U.S. Foreign
Policy are directly or indirectly linked to international law. For
example, Mr. Rudge works professionally on human rights issues in
international law, and this would benefit from greater exposure to
this key pillar of U.S. foreign policy. We expect Mr. Rudge's
participation in this program to give him greater knowledge about
the U.S. foreign policy process and how decisions on U.S. positions
in the international arena are made. With the acquired experience,
the candidate will be able to include this in his lectures to his
students.

(3) The potential impact of the candidate's participation on a
greater understanding of American society and/or culture at his/her
home institution:
We expect a great impact on the Anton De Kom University from Mr.
Rudge's participation in this program. We have been expanding our
engagements with this University, which as the sole university in
Suriname, is turning out the future generation of judges, lawyers,
and government officials. Including information on the United
States in the coursework of the international law courses is a key
mechanism for reaching these audiences. As Mr. Rudge expands his
students' exposure to the United States, it could lead the board of
the university to include an entire course on U.S. studies to the
curriculum.

(4) The relevance of the candidate's participation in the Institute
to the post/commission long-term U.S. studies goals and the post's
MPP:

The first goal in Post's Mission Strategic Plan is Mutual
US/Suriname appreciation and respect, contributing to a more
effective partnership. The Embassy seeks to provide Surinamers
within and outside the government with a positive perception of the
United States. We do this by emphasizing the positive aspects of
U.S. policy. Among the key partners to do this is the Anton de Kom
University.

A second goal of Post's Mission Strategic Plan is to support Strong
democratic and judicial systems, supported by effective law
enforcement. We work to assist the Government of Suriname in
strengthening its judicial institutions by training judges and
prosecutors. Through outreach to Mr. Rudge's students, we are
exposing the judges and prosecutors of the future to issues related
to the United States-Suriname bilateral agenda.


T. Personal Statement:
Currently I am lecturing the following courses in the major
International Law at the ADEK University of Suriname, Faculty of
Social Sciences:

(1)Public International Law
(2)The Law of Treaties
(3)English Law, American Law and Law of the Caribbean.

Previously I have lectured, among others, the following courses:
(1) International Humanitarian Law
(2) Human Rights Law
(3) Comparative Law
(4) Moot Court Competition on the Inter-American Human Rights
System.

The abovementioned courses are all linked to my Master of Laws
(LL.M.) specialization at the Washington College of Law at the
American University in Washington, DC (1995 - 1997) and the Romulo
Gallegos Fellowship with the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights of the Organization of American States (2000-2001).

In addition, I am also in charge of coordinating the major
international law at the ADEK University of Suriname, which means
that in cooperation with the other colleagues, I draft proposals
regarding the curricula of the major.
To be able to present curricula that will give the leaders of
tomorrow the possibility to have a good perspective of important
regional and world issues, it is mandatory that I must have a broad
overview of the several aspects of international law, international
relations and other related aspects.

I therefore applaud the opportunity to attend this special program.
This will give me a good insight of the position, view and arguments
of the U.S.A., currently the sole superpower in the world; with
regard to among others its foreign policy.

With the knowledge gained from this program I will be able to
present several international activities, events, acts of states in
a more balanced manner to my students at the ADEK University of
Suriname. This will certainly give them a better (read comparative)
understanding of the issues that are roaming in the international
arena.

Every one knows that referring to the USA as the sole super power in
the world, the phrase "high trees are exposed to a huge amount of
wind" is applicable. It is in my opinion necessary to share with
the world why due to the wind a "high tree" bows in a certain
direction. This will certainly help to change an unbalanced (read
negative) picture one, particular students in Suriname, might have
of the U.S.A. with regard to its role (foreign policy) in the
international arena.

Paramaribo, February 08, 2008
Eric P. Rudge LL.M. & LL.M.


U. Post/Commission Action Officer:
Geneve Menscher
Political/ Economic Chief
3390 Paramaribo Place
Dulles, VA 20189-3390
Email: menscherge@state.gov
Telephone: (597) 472 900 ext 2205
Fax: (597) 420-800

SCHREIBER HUGHES