The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

JULY-AUGUST 2003 • AFSA NEWS 5 Christian A. Herter Award FOR A SENIOR-LEVEL FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER James B. Warlick, June H. Kunsman, KimMarie Gendin, Natasha Franceschi A member of Congress invited Dragomir Karic, a Serb resident in Moscow, to attend the February 2003 National Prayer Breakfast inWashington. When Karic applied for a visa at Embassy Moscow, the visa was denied. Karic had been a key aide to then-President Slobodan Milosevic; he and his family were on a European Union list of people — a list including the Milosevic fam- ily and other war criminals —banned from entering E.U. coun- tries. Karic’s name was also in the visa lookout system. The congressman did not take no for an answer, and began to put pressure on the State Department to expedite processing and to issue the visa. Pressure to issue was then put on the EmbassyMoscow con- sular section, under the leadership of Consul General JamesWarlick, from several bureaus in the department, including by senior-level per- sonnel. JamesWarlick, Deputy Consul General June Kunsman, Consul KimMarie (Gendin) Sonn, and Vice Consul Natasha Franceschi — working together and in agreement—sent a message back to Washington stating that “someone may want to check further into Karic’s background (and) carefully consider whether authorization is warranted. Post is not in a position to recommend authorization.” The Consular Affairs Bureau in the department supported Embassy Moscow’s position, but further urging to issue the visa came to the embassy from another bureau. Still the embassy refused, a decision subsequently upheld by the Department of Justice. EmbassyMoscow’s consular officials stood firm in their commit- ment to upholding the law and protecting U.S. security interests in the face of strong pressure to disregard both. It is well-known within the Foreign Service that many members of Congress routinely ques- tion visa decisions made by consular officers around the world and often urge reversal of a visa denial if they have an interest in a particu- lar case. Consular officers respond to these inquiries with profession- alism, and each case is reviewed on its merits. The handling of the Karic case by officials of the EmbassyMoscow consular section fur- ther illustrates the integrity that is present in our consular corps. JamesWarlick is minister counselor for consular affairs and con- sul general inMoscow. Previous posts include Bonn, Manila, Dhaka, andWashington, where positions included special assistant to Secretary of State Eagleburger and a stint on the executive secretariat of the Operations Center. KimMarie Sonn joined the Foreign Service in 1997 and has served in Shanghai and Sarajevo. Natasha Franceschi was a Presidential Management Intern at State before join- ing the Foreign Service. EmbassyMoscow is her first Foreign Service posting. June Kunsman has served in Mexico City, San Jose, Krakow, Islamabad andWashington. AFSA’S 2003 DISSENT AWARD WINNERS These awards publicly recognize individuals who have demonstrated the courage to challenge the system from within. TheW. Averell HarrimanAward FOR A FOREIGN SERVICE JUNIOR OFFICER Dean Kaplan D uring his first tour in the Foreign Service, Dean Kaplan exercised his right to dissent in a bold and professional manner, and he got results. In late 2000, the government of Nigeria offered a 48-hour win- dow of opportunity for the U.S. to take custody of four criminal suspects whose extradition the U.S. had been seeking for over five years. The U.S. government accepted the offer, pleased to take cus- tody of the suspects, even though the full legal extradition process was not completed. First-tour officer Dean Kaplan questioned the wisdomof circumventing the judicial extradition process, asking how expediency in the area of law enforcement could be reconciled with the mission’s explicit commit- ment, stated in the Mission Performance Plan, to help Nigeria build greater respect for the rule of law. Kaplan worked his way through the embassy chain of command, arguing that in this case, the goal of combating narcotics trafficking and international crime conflicted with its goal of promoting the rule of law, due process and respect for human rights. He then drafted a dissent cable arguing for a change of policy that would emphasize legal extradition as the means of access to criminal sus- pects in Nigeria. Before sending the cable, he sought the advice of the principal officer, who encouraged Kaplan to hold the cable until the arrival of the incoming ambassador. Kaplan did so, and then discussed the issue with the newly-arrived ambassador. He informed himof his discontent with the policy and suggested that he seek the opinions of the law enforcement community, the for- mer chargé and others, before reaching a conclusion. The ambas- sador convened a meeting, during which Kaplan argued his posi- tion. The ambassador decided the mission wouldmake the case to Washington that the U.S. government should reject such renditions, while urging reform toward legal extraditions. By the time the Nigerian authorities offered up three more sus- pects for rendition, a new policy was in place and the offer was rejected. While there was considerable dissatisfaction in some quarters with the new policy, the clear U.S. stance that judicial extra- ditions were the only route to stronger bilateral law enforcement cooperation focused Nigerian attention on the importance of adhering to the rule of law. By 2002, the first judicial extradition fromNigeria had been accomplished. “The outcome would not have been possible,” says Kaplan, “without the open-minded and flexible management of Ambassador Howard Jeter, Chargé Nancy Serpa, PO/DCMTim Andrews, Political Counselor John Bauman, and the support— whether in agreement or disagreement—of many colleagues in Abuja and Lagos.” Kaplan is part of a tandem couple with his wife, Crystal. They have one daughter. His next posting is to Kathmandu. Dissent Awards • Continued on page 6 Dean Kaplan in Ghana. Left to right: Vice Consul Natasha Franceschi, Deputy Consul General June Kunsman, Consul General James Warlick and Consul Kim Gendin.