Frank Gaffney, 50; lawyer was specialist in refugee law

WASHINGTON - Frank Gaffney, a specialist in international human rights and refugee law, died Oct. 12 at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston of complications of cancer surgery. A resident of Washington, D.C., he was 50.

Mr. Gaffney was a lawyer-adviser in the State Department's Office of Human Rights and Refugees. He represented the United States on delegations to the United Nations and at meetings of international organizations in Geneva, Paris, Warsaw, and elsewhere.

He was a central negotiator at UN general sessions on human rights and at meetings of the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Mr. Gaffney also was a principal adviser to the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

He was a superb negotiator, said Robert Harris, assistant legal adviser for Human Rights and Refugees. Mr. Gaffney helped the bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration respond to many humanitarian and refugee crises around the world, Harris said.

"Frank was passionate about the practice of law, and he was tireless in his efforts to advance human rights and to help people in need," Harris said.

Mr. Gaffney, a native of Brooklyn, moved to Washington to attend Georgetown University, where he received a bachelor's degree in American studies and, in 1989, a law degree cum laude.

During his college years, he was a freelance screenwriter and researcher.

Mr. Gaffney worked at the Washington Post from 1980 to 1989 and attended law school at night part of the time. He had several jobs at the Post, including Metro copy editor and editorial aide. Among his roles was serving as editor of the Voters Guides.

From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Gaffney was an associate at the law firm of Wiley, Rein and Fielding, and worked in commercial litigation.

He also volunteered as a mediator in the D.C. Superior Court's civil division.

Mr. Gaffney joined the State Department's Legal Adviser's office in 1994 and worked initially with the Office of International Claims and Investment Disputes.

He began working in the Office of Human Rights and Refugees in 2002.

Mr. Gaffney received a diagnosis in 2004 that he had a type of sarcoma, and he underwent a variety of treatments.

He continued to work until this summer.

Correction: An obituary from the Washington Post on Frank Gaffney, a specialist in international human rights and refugee law, that was published in Friday's Globe omitted a reference to his partner. Gaffney leaves Kathleen Wilson of Washington, D.C., his partner of eight years, as well as his mother, a sister, and three brothers.