LOS ANGELES – APRIL 14, 2008 – Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce that President George W. Bush has stated his intention to appoint Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper, counsel at Arent Fox’s Los Angeles office, to be a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

The president appointed Ambassador Prosper for the remainder of a five-year term expiring January 15, 2013.

“It is with great humility that I accepted President Bush’s appointment to serve as a member of United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” said Ambassador Prosper. “The importance of the council’s mission, and that of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, cannot be overstated. The museum serves as this nation’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust and helps ensure that the grim lessons of the Holocaust are taught to future generations. I am honored to be able to play a part in that undertaking.”

Arent Fox is proud of its long association with the US Holocaust Memorial Council. Gerard Leval, a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office, has served as its general counsel on a pro bono basis since 1985 and has been assisted in that task over those years by dozens of Arent Fox attorneys.

About Pierre-Richard Prosper

Ambassador Prosper has devoted much of his professional life to the protection of human rights. Prior to joining Arent Fox, Ambassador Prosper was the US ambassador-at-large in charge of the secretary of state’s Office of War Crimes Issues. He was appointed in 2001 by President George W. Bush and, after being unanimously confirmed by the US Senate, served until October 2005.

From 1999 to 2001, Ambassador Prosper worked in the State Department, where he served as a special counsel and policy adviser on war crimes issues.

From 1996 to late 1998, Ambassador Prosper was a war crimes prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. While working and living in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide, he was appointed lead trial attorney and prosecuted the first case of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. He won additional convictions for crimes against humanity and broke new ground in international law by convincing the UN Tribunal, for the first time, to recognize rape as an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.

In January 2008, Ambassador Prosper was elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to serve on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.