Officers of the Human Rights Council's Sixth Cycle (20 June 2011 - 31 December 2012)

Anatole Fabien Nkou serves as Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Geneva since May 2008.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Nkou had been serving from 1997 to 2007 at Cameroon’s Embassy in Bonn, Germany, concurrently covering Austria, the Vatican and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations Office at Vienna.

A career diplomat, Mr. Nkou’s foreign postings include serving at the Embassy of Cameroon in Ethiopia and as Cameroon’s Representative to the African Union from 1988 to 1991; at the Embassy of Cameroon in Spain from 1984 to 1988; at the Embassy of Cameroon in the Soviet Union from 1983 to 1984; and at the Embassy of Cameroon in China from 1978 to 1981. He has held a series of posts at the Foreign Ministry in Yaoundé since he started his diplomatic career in 1976.

Born on 21 July, 1948 in Brazzaville, Mr. Nkou has a number of degrees which culminated with a Ph.D. in international relations from the Institute of International Relations of Cameroon in 1976. He is married with four children.  

Andras Dekany, serves as Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations Office at Geneva since December 2010.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Dekany had been serving as Head of the European Union (EU) External Relations and Crisis Situations Section at the Department of EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, and a senior professional advisor since 2004. He was Political Counselor at the Embassy of Hungary in Washington D.C. from 1999 to 2004, and Professional Advisor at the Department of International Organizations from 1994 to 1999. Mr. Dekany served as Human Rights Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the United Nations in New York from 1990 to 1994.

A career diplomat, Mr. Dekany also served as Desk Officer at the Department of Regional Cooperation from 1988 to 1990; Press and Cultural Attache at the Embassy of Hungary in Bucharest, Romania from 1983 to 1988; Head of the Romania Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1981 to 1983; Press Attache at the Embassy of Hungary in Bucharest from 1979 to 1981; and Desk Officer on the Romania Desk from 1978 to 1979.

Mr. Dekany graduated in 1978, Summa cum Laude, from the International Law Faculty of the Moscow State Institute on International Relations. He has participated as a delegate in several sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, and as Deputy Head of the delegation of Hungary at several sessions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He was born on 13 October, 1954 in Budapest, and is married with two daughters.

Gulnara Iskakova, serves as Permanent Representative of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva since December 2010.

Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ms. Iskakova had been teaching law at the American University in Central Asia from 1998 to 2010. From 1998 to 2004, she was the Head of the Law Department at the University, setting up the Department and developing the curriculum as well as teaching. She taught law at the Law Department of the Kyrgyz National University from 1992 to 1998, and taught law at the International University of Kyrgyzstan from 1996 to 1997, concurrently working at the Moscow and Tashkent offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

During her career, Ms. Iskakova has also had an active role in public service, including as a member of the working group of the interim Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on the drafting of the constitution in April-May 2010; as a member of the Constitutional Council of the Kyrgyz Republic in April-May 2010; working on implementing a programme to strengthen Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament from 2006 to 2008; as a member of the expert group on writing the new edition of the constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, which was adopted in referenda of 2003; and serving as an independent legal expert to the Central Election Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic from 1996 to 1997.

Ms. Iskakova has an LLM from Duke University Law School (2004-2005); a PhD in jurisprudence from the Kazakh National State University in Almaty, Kazakhstan (1994) and a law degree from the Kyrgyz State University in Bishkek (1983-1988). She has carried out a number of post graduate courses and other training. She has also published many articles, two monographs, two books and on reference book.

Christian Strohal serves as Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva since July 2008.

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, from 2003 to 2008, Mr. Strohal was the Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. From 2000 until 2003, Mr. Strohal was the Austrian Ambassador to Luxembourg. Earlier in his career, from 1988 to 1992, Mr. Strohal served as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva and to the international organizations in Geneva.

Mr. Strohal has a strong diplomatic background in human rights. From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Strohal was the Director for Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, Minority and Gender issues at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Austrian representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations General Assembly and to numerous other international conferences. During that time, from 1997 and 1998, he was the Vice-Chair of the Commission on Human Rights. In addition, from 1992 to 1993, Mr. Strohal was the Ambassador and Special Representative for the World Conference on Human Rights.

Mr. Strohal studied law, economics and international relations in Vienna, London and Geneva, and received his doctorate degree in law in Vienna in 1975.

Mr. Strohal was born on 1 May 1951 in Vienna.