Mr. Robert Bowman has been a U.S. Department of Justice Attorney since 1992. Before joining the NWC as the DOJ Chair, he served for 11 years as the Regional Director for Africa (& Middle East 2013-16), Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training, Criminal Division. Prior to that, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. where he prosecuted terrorism, kidnapping, espionage, alien smuggling, and export control violations. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Bowman was on detail in Africa, spending two years in Ethiopia and two years as the DOJ Resident Legal Advisor in Nairobi, Kenya. As the RLA in Kenya, he assisted countries in the region develop their capacities to investigate and prosecute terrorism, piracy, and other transnational crimes, as well as crimes of violence against women. Following the increase in Somali pirate attacks that began in 2008, he helped develop the international response, including developing the first piracy cases prosecuted in Kenya, drafting standard operating procedures for international naval and law enforcement personnel, revising criminal statutes, and training judges and prosecutors throughout the region.
In his role as Regional Director over the last decade, Mr. Bowman supervised a team of career prosecutors and locally employed staff in Africa and the Middle East, and stationed at AFRICOM and at the International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law (IIJ) in Malta. He collaborated with various DOJ components, law enforcement and the U.S. interagency, helping to shape policy, practice and the delivery of U.S. assistance impacting the justice and national security sectors. This included engagement with the National Security Council, State and Defense Departments, USAID, and other relevant agencies on matters related to civilian/military coordination, counterterrorism operations, and “great power competition” on the African continent.
Prior to his work in Africa, he served as a prosecutor in all but one of the criminal sections within the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Fraud & Public Corruption, Transnational & Major Crimes, Homicides, Sex Crimes & Domestic Violence, and Appellate. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he worked for six years as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division focusing on police, prison, and institutional reform. He has received multiple awards from the Department of Justice, and awards from the U.S. Department of State for his work on countering terrorism and combating sea piracy. Before joining the Department, he was an associate with the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue (1987 – 91). He is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, and Williams College.