Rafael Nieto Navia (born 5 February 1938) is a Colombian jurist, political scientist and professor. He was President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights between 1993-1994. Furthermore he has served as Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and he has served as Ambassador of Colombia to Sweden with

dual accreditation Dual accreditation is the practice in diplomacy of a country granting two separate responsibilities to a single diplomat. One prominent form of dual accreditation is for a diplomat to serve as the ambassador to two countries concurrently. For exampl ...

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Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Legal career

Nieto has served as Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for more than five years. Four of them as a member of the Appeals Chamber and the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

, and more than one year as a member of the Trial Chambers. He served as Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for twelve years, and he was President of the same for three and a half years. He also served as Auxiliary Magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Colombia for four years.

Ambassadorship

On 7 January 2009 Chancellor Jaime Bermúdez Merizalde announced that Nieto had been appointed Ambassador to Sweden by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Álvaro Uribe Vélez Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrio ...

, stating that Nieto was a "''super internationalist, very well respected, and with a lot of tradition''" . Chancellor Bermúdez sworn him in the next month on 10 February as

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of the Republic of Colombia to the

Kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

serving concurrently as Non-Resident Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, the

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and the Republic of Iceland. Nieto moved to Stockholm shortly after to take up his office, officially presenting his

Letters of Credence A letter of credence (french: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to anot ...

to His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf

King of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...

on 13 May 2009; as Non-Resident Ambassador, he presented his credentials to the

President of Iceland The president of Iceland ( is, Forseti Íslands) is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, who is now in his second term as president, elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as ...

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (; born 14 May 1943) is an Icelandic politician who was the fifth president of Iceland from 1996 to 2016.Official CV. He was previously a member of the Icelandic Parliament for the People's Alliance and served as Minis ...

on 9 February 2010, and to Her Majesty

Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent fema ...

Queen of Denmark The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was a ...

on 15 February 2010.

Personal life

Nieto was born on 5 February 1938 in Bogotá, D.C. to Eduardo Nieto Umaña (22 November 1904 - 14 January 1946) and Teresa Navia Harker (22 August 1904 - 27 April 1991). He married María Teresa Loaiza Cubides on 28 August 1965. They have four children: Rafael, Juan Carlos, Pablo, and María Teresa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieto Navia, Rafael 1938 births Living people People from Bogotá Pontifical Xavierian University alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Xavierian University 20th-century Colombian judges 21st-century Colombian judges International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda judges International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia judges Ambassadors of Colombia to Denmark Ambassadors of Colombia to Finland Ambassadors of Colombia to Iceland Ambassadors of Colombia to Sweden Inter-American Court of Human Rights judges Colombian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Colombian judges of international courts and tribunals