Desmond Travers (born 1941) is a retired

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...

colonel. During his years with the army he served with various

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

peacekeeping forces. Since his retirement from the army in 2001, he has taught military affairs at the

Institute for International Criminal Investigations The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. He also served on the institutes board of directors. In 2009 together with

Richard Goldstone Richard Joseph Goldstone (born 26 October 1938) is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and ...

, Christine Chinkin, and Hina Jilani, he was appointed to the

United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, also known as the Goldstone Report, was a United Nations fact-finding mission established in April 2009 pursuant to Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-9/1 of the United Nations Human Rights Coun ...

. The report that the mission subsequently published is commonly referred to as the

Goldstone Report Goldstone may refer to: Places * Goldstone, Shropshire, a small village in Shropshire, England *Goldstone, California, a ghost town near the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex * Goldstone Lake, a dry lake in the Mojave Desert of San Bern ...

and Travers is credited as one of the four co-authors.

Irish Army

During his 42-year career as a soldier and officer with the Irish Army Infantry Corps, Travers served with the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violen ...

(1964, 1969–70) and the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( ar, قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان, he, כוח האו"ם הזמני בלבנון), or UNIFIL ( ar, يونيفيل, he, יוניפי״ל), is a UN peacekeeping m ...

(1980–82, 1984–85 and 1987–88). While serving with UNIFIL, Travers and his family lived for two years in northern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He subsequently served in Croatia (EU Monitor in 1993) and in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2000–01). His last army appointment was as Colonel, Commandant of the Military College, based at the

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel. History Longstanding ...

. He retired from the army in 2001.

UN investigator

In 2003 Travers was invited join the

based in

. He later became a director at the institute. In 2009 he was asked to participate in the

. The report was submitted to the

Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

on September 30, 2009 and has come to be called “The Goldstone Report” after its chairman

Other Interests / Writer

Travers continues his interest in military history and heritage matters and is a member of the Military History Society of Ireland (MHSOI) and is a founder member of the Military Vehicle Club of Ireland (MVCI). He also writes and lectures on military and UN matters. He has written several essays for the ''Defence Forces Review''. His most recent paper was "Soviet Military Mapping of Ireland During the Cold War". www.ocnus.net
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Travers, Desmond 1941 births Irish Army officers Living people Irish expatriates in the Netherlands Irish officials of the United Nations United Nations military personnel