Jewish organizational leaders say they know little about John Shattuck, the Harvard University vice president nominated by President Clinton this week to be assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs.
But they are pleased the important post has finally been filled.
Over the years, the human rights post has been the focal point for Jewish groups seeking to encourage the U.S. government to assist Jews in lands of distress, such as the former Soviet Union.
And despite the mass emigration wave of recent years, conditions for Jews and other minorities in the Soviet successor states remain an important concern of the State Department’s Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.
The last person to head the bureau, which the Clinton administration hopes to reorganize and combine with offices dealing with other global concerns, was Richard Schifter, a friend of the Jewish community who held the post in both the Reagan and Bush administrations.
Shattuck’s appointment was announced Tuesday, following a lengthy battle within the administration over who would get the post. Shattuck reportedly was favored by those who wanted a liberal in the job.
Among others reportedly under consideration was Joshua Muravchik, a neoconservative resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
At Harvard, Shattuck serves as vice president for government, community and public affairs, and as a lecturer at Harvard Law School. Before coming to the university in 1984, he ran the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union for eight years and served as the ACLU’s national counsel in the 1970s.
He also has held positions with the human rights group Amnesty International.
One Jewish official who has worked with Shattuck previously and thinks highly of him is Mark Talisman, director of the Washington Action Office of the Council of Jewish Federations.
“He’s a wonderful fellow,” Talisman said.
Micah Naftalin, executive director of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, said he looked forward to briefing Shattuck on “the situation in the former Soviet Union once he gets on board.”
“We’re very enthusiastic that this important job has been filled,” Naftalin said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
