Stephen J. Rapp

In December 2006 the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Stephen J. Rapp as the third Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Mr. Rapp was previously Chief of Prosecutions at the United Nations-International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) from May 2005. In this position, Mr. Rapp was responsible for supervising the prosecution of military, government and political leaders responsible for the Rwandan genocide in trials at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania. Before that, he served as Senior Trial Attorney of what has been called the “Media Trial,” against the principals of RTLM radio and the editor of the Kangura newspaper. In December 2003, the Trial Chamber pronounced each of the defendants guilty of Genocide, Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide, and other crimes. Rapp, the lead prosecutor, became renowned internationally for winning the most controversial case stemming from the Rwandan civil war. Prior to his service at the ICTR, Mr. Rapp was United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa from November 1993 until May 2001. Rapp was one of the first federal prosecutors to convict repeat abusers under the Violence Against Women Act. Prior to his service as US Attorney, he was in private practice of law in Waterloo, Iowa. He also served as a Staff Director and Counsel at the US Senate Judiciary Committee and as an elected member of the Iowa Legislature.