Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

Humanitarian Affairs, and Abrams’ successor, Richard Schifter. A 1985 performance
evaluation of Lister by Abrams strongly praises Lister’s diplomacy and describes
Lister’s astounding network of human rights activists in the U.S. and abroad. 66 (I
define “human rights activist” to include both U.S. human rights activists and foreign
dissidents.) Abrams notes that Lister helped initiate contact between the State
Department and Solidarity leaders in Poland; served as the department’s contact with
Kim Dae Jung, the South Korean dissident who later became president; built
relationships with the democratic opposition to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet;
worked with Congressional leaders; acted as the department’s main contact with
human rights NGOs; and in other ways furthered the human rights cause. 67
By the 1990s, Lister was beginning to receive recognition for his work. Yet,
his status at the bureau increasingly was challenged. Technically, after 1981 Lister
was an “intermittent expert” meaning he was not supposed to work full-time—but
Lister still reported to work each day. In 1993, the State Department’s Inspector
General Office criticized him in a report for working twice as much as authorized and
acting too much like a paid Foreign Service officer. 68 The report complained that the
human rights bureau had “come to resemble a bureau of solo performers” that was
beyond “management control.” 69 In “Recommendation 18” of the report, the
Inspector General called for Lister’s termination. 70
Lister, who was not battling a potential dismissal from the State Department
for the first time in his life, rallied friends to his support. Schlesinger described him to
69