Jakob Kellenberger

Jakob Kellenberger (born 19 October 1944 in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Heiden ) is a Swiss diplomat said. He entered the diplomatic service in 1974 in Switzerland and has held various positions within Europe. As chief negotiator of his home country, he led the negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union to the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and I of the EU. From 2000 to 2012, he was President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Life

Jakob Kellenberger was born Ausserrhoden 1944 in Heiden in the canton of Appenzell, but is a citizen of the Canton Commune Walzenhausen. He spent much of his youth in Arbon on Lake Constance, where his father worked as a freelance photographer. He studied French and Spanish literature and linguistics in Zurich, Tours and Granada, and graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. In 1974 he began working for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA). From 1975 to 1976 he was attaché of the Swiss Embassy in Madrid, then from 1976 to 1981 Embassy Secretary at the Swiss Mission to the European Communities ( EC) in Brussels. After that, he worked for the Swiss embassy in London until 1984.

In the years 1984-1992 he headed the Integration Office of Switzerland, a joint office of the EDA and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (DEA ), which has the responsibility for relations with Switzerland to the EU and the European Free Trade Association ( EFTA). He was promoted to Secretary of State and Chief of the Political Directorate of the EDA 1992. From 1989 to 1991 he was chief negotiator of Switzerland to the transit negotiations with the EU, between 1994 and 1998 he headed the Swiss delegation to the bilateral negotiations with the European Union.

Kellenberger is since September 2012 a columnist in the Sunday newspaper. He writes about international, europe and humanitarian policy issues. In addition, he belongs since 2012 to the board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. In May 2013 Kellenberger was chosen by the Swiss Peace Foundation Swiss Peace on September 10, 2013 as the new President of the Board of Trustees.

Kellenberger is married since his student days with Elisabeth Kellenberger Jossi. Together they have two daughters.

ICRC Presidency

On August 27, 1998, he was selected to succeed Cornelio Sommaruga, Office of the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Following the resignation of Sommaruga the end of 1999, he took over the office at the beginning of the following year. Shortly after the beginning of his term took place on 26 April 2001 murder of six members of the ICRC in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kellenberger sees this as its predecessor with the challenge of losing authority of the ICRC faced especially in internal conflicts, which began with the worldwide political upheavals since 1990.

In the years from 2003 to 2005, he met several times to confidential talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz on the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the detention facility camp X - Ray together at the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

During his tenure, it was beyond the December 2005 adoption of the Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and thus the adoption of the Red Crystal as a third protection symbol next to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent. Although Kellenberger had used both in his speech on 5 December 2005 opening the diplomatic conference in Geneva as well as in a further call for agreement two days later for a friendly solution, this decision did not fall in consensus. Because of differences between Israel and Syria, which could not be resolved despite a compromise offer by the ICRC in Syria, the protocol was approved by a vote of 98 in favor and 27 votes against, with 10 abstentions.

In February 2007, Jakob Kellenberger was confirmed by the ICRC Assembly for a further four -year term. The meeting of the committee elected in October 2011, the diplomat and Secretary of State at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Peter Maurer as his successor. On June 1, 2012 Peter Maurer took over the office of Jakob Kellenberger.

Honors and Awards

• Honorary doctorate from the University of Basel
• Medal " Genève reconnaissante " the City of Geneva (2005)
• Honorary Council of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (2007)
• Honorary citizen of the town of Heiden (2009)
• Honorary Member of the American Society of International Law (2012 )