INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY NETWORK

The 50 human rights, democracy and rule of law experts on our Advisory Network serve in their personal capacities rather than as representatives of any organization or university. The Advisory Network is a consultative body; the experts do not play a role in compiling the donations data, and are not responsible for the content of this website or our country briefings.

Australia 

Sarah Joseph, Professor of Human Rights Law, Griffith University; Editorial Board member - Cambridge Business and Human Rights Journal and of Oxford Human Rights Law Review and Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights. Previous posts include Director of Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University; Adjunct Professor at Graduate Institute for Higher Education (Geneva) and at Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam). 

David Kinley, Chair in Human Rights Law at University of Sydney Law School; Academic Panel member of Doughty Street Chambers in London; Faculty of Oxford/George Washington Universities’ International Human Rights Law Summer School (where he teaches “Human Rights in the Marketplace”). Editorial Board member - Oxford Human Rights Law Review. 

Justine Nolan, Director of Australian Human Rights Institute and Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at University of New South Wales (Sydney); Senior Visiting Scholar at NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights (New York University Stern School of Business); Editorial Board member - Cambridge Business and Human Rights Journal. 

Belgium

Koen De Feyter, Professor of International Law at University of Antwerp. Member (and recently Chair) of United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development. Previous posts include Academic Coordinator of European Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice); Lecturer at Centre for Human Rights - University of Maastricht (Netherlands); Chair of Amnesty International Belgium. 

Brazil

Flavia Piovesan, Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights at Catholic University of São Paulo and in Human Rights post-graduate program of Catholic University of Paraná. Also teaches at PhD Program - University of Buenos Aires, and at Academy on Human Rights - American University Washington College of Law. Previous posts include Commissioner at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States.

Oscar Vilhena, Director at São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas, where he is Professor of Constitutional Law and Human Rights. Council member of Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility (Brazil); Council member of Instituto Pro Bono (promotes greater access to justice through pro bono advocacy). Previous posts include Executive Director of Conectas Human Rights. 

Canada

Alex Neve, Adjunct Professor teaching international human rights at law faculties of University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University. Board member of Centre for Law and Democracy. Senior Fellow at Graduate School of Public and International Affairs - University of Ottawa. Previous posts include Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada (English-Speaking Branch). 

Penelope Simons, Professor and Gordon F. Henderson Chair in Human Rights at University of Ottawa Faculty of Law; Academic Advisor to the Human Rights Clinic project on Business and Human Rights in the Americas at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre. Vice President and Founding board member of Global Business and Human Rights Scholars’ Association. Editorial Board member – Cambridge Business and Human Rights Journal. 

Denmark

[Denmark/Germany] Tove H. Malloy, Professor of European Studies at Europa-Universität Flensburg (Germany) and of Global Studies at Roskilde University (Denmark). Focus: national and ethnic minority rights. Editorial Board member of European Yearbook of Minority Issues and of Ethnopolitics. Previous posts include Director of the European Centre for Minority Issues; member of Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities; taught at EU’s Master Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice). 

Germany

[Germany/Denmark] Tove H. Malloy, Professor of European Studies at Europa-Universität Flensburg (Germany) and of Global Studies at Roskilde University (Denmark). Focus: national and ethnic minority rights. Editorial Board member of European Yearbook of Minority Issues and of Ethnopolitics. Previous posts include Director of the European Centre for Minority Issues; member of Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on Framework Convention for Protection of National Minorities; taught at EU’s Master Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice). 

Anja Mihr, Founder and Program Director of Center on Governance through Human Rights (Berlin); Associate Professor for Human Rights, Democratization, International Relations and Transitional Justice at OSCE Academy in Kyrgyzstan. Previous posts include Program Director at European Inter-University Center for Human Rights and Democratization (Venice); Executive Board member - Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights. 

Kyriaki Topidi, Head of Culture and Diversity Cluster and Senior Research Fellow - European Centre for Minority Issues.  Focus on protection of minority rights and human rights law. Editor of Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe. Previous posts include Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Law and Managing Director of Centre for Comparative Constitutional Law and Religion - University of Lucerne (Switzerland). 

India

Usha Ramanathan, Law Professor at Indian Law Institute. Research fellow at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Focus includes human rights, environment. Was research contributor to International Council on Human Rights Policy project and report: “Beyond Voluntarism: Human rights and the developing international legal obligations of companies”. Member of Amnesty International's Advisory Panel on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. South Asia Editor of Law, Environment and Development Journal. Editorial Board – Oxford Journal of Human Rights Practice. 

Ravindran Daniel, Human rights lawyer and expert; Chair of United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries. Previous posts include Director of Human Rights Divisions of UN Peacekeeping Operations in East Timor, Libya, Sudan; senior positions in Cambodia and Uganda with Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Officer for Asia at International Commission of Jurists; founder of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia). 

Israel

David Kretzmer, Professor Emeritus of International Law - Hebrew University of Jerusalem. One of founders of Association for Civil Rights in Israel and of B’Tselem (The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories). Previous posts include member of UN Human Rights Committee. 

Japan

Saul Takahashi, Professor of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Osaka Jogakuin University. Advisor to Human Rights Now (Tokyo). Previous posts include Regional Representative for Japan/Korea/Pacific at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; Deputy Head of Office - Occupied Palestine, Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Ramallah); Refugee Team at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat. 

Mexico

Alejandro Anaya Muñoz, Provost - Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City; Editorial Board member, Journal of Human Rights Practice. Previous posts include: Professor and Coordinator of Master’s in Human Rights and Peace at ITESO, Jesuit University of Guadalajara; Advisory Board member - Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists; Associate Editor of The International Journal of Human Rights; board member of the NGO: Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH). 

Netherlands

Nadia Bernaz, Associate Professor - LAW group at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), where she leads Business, Human Rights and Environment research line. Member of Netherlands Network for Business and Human Rights, and book review editor of Cambridge Business and Human Rights Journal. On the steering committee of EU-funded project Rebalance Democracy and Capitalism. Previous posts include Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University (London), and Lecturer at Irish Centre for Human Rights - National University of Ireland.

Menno Kamminga, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Maastricht University, where he was Director of Maastricht Centre for Human Rights. Editorial Board member - Netherlands International Law Review. Previous posts include Legal Adviser at International Secretariat of Amnesty International (and later a member of Amnesty’s International Executive Committee); Board member of Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; member of Netherlands Government’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights. 

[Netherlands/UK] Cees van Dam, Professor of European Tort Law at Maastricht University, and Visiting Professor at King's College London School of Law where he teaches Business and Human Rights. Chair of Supervisory Board - Stichting Victimes des Dechets Toxiques Cote d’Ivoire (Victims of Toxic Waste in Côte d'Ivoire Foundation). Previous posts include Professor of International Business and Human Rights at Rotterdam School of Management – a post sponsored by Amnesty International Netherlands and Stichting Vredeswetenschappen.

New Zealand

Margaret Bedggood, Former Dean of School of Law, and Professor of Human Rights, at University of Waikato, where she remains an Honorary Professor of Law. Chair of Management Committee - Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Foundation. Awarded Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to human rights law. Previous posts include Chief Commissioner and Chair of New Zealand Human Rights Commission; member of International Executive Committee - Amnesty International; Faculty Member for Masters’ Programme in International Human Rights Law - Oxford University. 

Valmaine Toki, Deputy Dean and Professor of Indigenous Rights, Treaty Rights, Human Rights and Maori customary law - Te Piringa Faculty of Law - University of Waikato. Member of United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Previous posts include Vice Chair of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 

Norway

Siri Gloppen, Professor of Political Science and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences Faculty - University of Bergen; founding Director and current Co-Director of LawTransform (Centre on Law & Social Transformation). Focus of her work includes democratization, constitution making and institutionalization of accountability structures, election processes, human rights, transitional justice and reconciliation. Editorial Board member of Cambridge Journal of Law and Courts and of Latin American Law Review.

Sweden

Maria-Therese Gustafsson,  Associate Professor in Political Science at Stockholm University. Research revolves around questions related to human rights, environmental justice, climate governance, corporate accountability, public and private governance in global supply chains. Currently co-leading a four-year project on the implementation of human rights and environmental due diligence legislation at the European Union level and in EU member states. Previously a visiting scholar at Harvard University and Cornell University.

Thomas Hammarberg, Former member of Swedish Parliament. Previous posts include Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; Secretary General of Olof Palme International Center; Ambassador of Swedish Government on Humanitarian Affairs; Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General on Human Rights in Cambodia; Member of UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Secretary General of Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden); Secretary General of Amnesty International. He received on behalf of Amnesty International the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. 

Karin Landgren, Executive Director of the independent think tank Security Council Report. Previous posts include United Nations Under-Secretary-General as head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia; head of the UN special political missions in Burundi and in Nepal; UNICEF’s first chief of child protection; Chief of Standards and Legal Advice at UN High Commissioner for Refugees; other UNHCR positions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Singapore, the Philippines, India, and Geneva headquarters. Taught on conflict and post-conflict, peace operations, and child protection at post-graduate level.

Switzerland

Liz Umlas, Lecturer on business and human rights at University of Fribourg; teaches business and human rights at Oxford University. Co-founder of Sustainable Finance Geneva. Member of Amnesty International Business Group of Switzerland. Previous posts include Senior Research Analyst for human rights at KLD Research & Analytics; Manager of Policy Research at Oxfam America.

United Kingdom

Michael Addo, Associate Professor of Law and Director of London Law Programme, Notre Dame Law School. Focus: international human rights law; business and human rights. Editorial Board member of Cambridge Business and Human Rights Journal. Previous posts include United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights; Associate Dean - Faculty of Postgraduate Studies at University of Exeter. 

Maggie Beirne, Former Director of Committee on the Administration of Justice (Northern Ireland). International Advisory Board member - The Political Settlements Research Programme. Board member - Social Change Initiative. Previous posts include Head of Campaigns and Membership Department - Amnesty International, International Secretariat. 

Anne Burley. Previous posts include Director of Europe Regional Programme at Amnesty International - International Secretariat; Head of Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Croatia; Head of Human Rights Unit within UNPROFOR (United Nations Protection Force) in Eastern Slavonia; Trustee of Environmental Justice Foundation. In her early years at Amnesty served as Researcher on many countries, including Iran, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Occupied Territories, North America, English-speaking Caribbean, Suriname. 

Leïla Choukroune, Professor of International Law and Director of Thematic Area in Democratic Citizenship - University of Portsmouth. Focus includes business and human rights; international trade and investment law. Co-Chair - South Asia International Economic Law Network. Was independent adviser to International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). Previous posts include Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation - Maastricht University Faculty of Law.

Patricia Feeney, Senior adviser at SAGE Fund. Previous posts include Founder and Executive Director of RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development); consultant for United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Senior Policy Adviser on social and economic rights, trade and investment for Oxfam GB; visiting academic at University of Oxford - Department for International Development; Latin America Researcher at Amnesty International, International Secretariat.

Wesley Gryk, Founder of Wesley Gryk Solicitors. Feb-Mar 2023 volunteer consultancy in Warsaw for Lutheran World Federation’s Ukrainian refugee humanitarian assistance and protection projects. Previous posts include Legal Adviser and Deputy Head of the Research Department at Amnesty International, International Secretariat; Legal Adviser at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Judicial Clerk to U.S. federal judge Constance Baker Motley (a key strategist of the civil rights movement). 

Ian Martin, Former Secretary-General of Amnesty International. Other previous posts include special representative of United Nations Secretary-General in Libya, Nepal, East Timor. Served in peacekeeping or human rights missions in Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia/Eritrea. Previous posts include: Executive Director of Security Council Report; Vice President of International Center for Transitional Justice; General Secretary of Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. 

Michael McClintock, Consultant - International human rights. Previous posts include: Director of Program and Director of Research at Human Rights First (formerly Lawyers Committee for Human Rights); Deputy Program Director at Human Rights Watch; Deputy Head of Research, Mandate and Policy at Amnesty International – International Secretariat. 

Malcolm Smart. Previous posts include Head of Research at Amnesty International - International Secretariat; Program Director at Human Rights Watch; Deputy Director of Article 19; Head of Africa Region at Amnesty International - International Secretariat; Director of Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International - International Secretariat; Director of Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. 

[UK/Netherlands] Cees van Dam, Professor of European Tort Law at Maastricht University, and Visiting Professor at King's College London School of Law where he teaches Business and Human Rights. Chair of Supervisory Board - Stichting Victimes des Dechets Toxiques Cote d’Ivoire (Victims of Toxic Waste in Côte d'Ivoire Foundation). Previous posts include Professor of International Business and Human Rights at Rotterdam School of Management – a post sponsored by Amnesty International Netherlands and Stichting Vredeswetenschappen. 

United States

Joanne Bauer, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University, where she founded SIPA Business and Human Rights Clinic and leads Business and Human Rights Program of Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Co-Founder of Rights CoLab. Previous posts include Senior Researcher at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, and Director of Studies at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. 

Christina Cerna, Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center where she focuses on International Human Rights Law; Chair of International Human Rights Law Committee of the International Law Association. Previous posts include Principal Human Rights Specialist at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; board member of Amnesty International USA. 

Sandra Coliver, Board member of Guernica Centre for International Justice​. Former posts include Senior Managing Legal Officer at Open Society Foundations Justice Initiative; Director of Center for Justice & Accountability; Rule of Law Chief of Party at International Foundation for Electoral Systems; Senior Legal Advisor at International Crisis Group; Law Clerk at Election Appeals Sub-Committee for Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Larry Cox, Former Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. Other previous posts include Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International - International Secretariat; Co-Director of Kairos: The Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary; Senior Program Officer at Ford Foundation; Executive Director of Rainforest Foundation. 

Stephanie Farrior, member of TrialWatch Experts Panel - Clooney Foundation for Justice. Previous posts include: Professor of Law, Pennsylvania State University, and subsequently Professor and founding Director, Center for Applied Human Rights, Vermont Law School; Visiting Fellow of University of Oxford, Kellogg College; professor in joint Oxford/George Washington summer programme in International Human Rights Law; member, founding Board of Directors, Center for Justice and Accountability; member, Human Rights Watch Advisory Committee on Environment and Human Rights; Director, Legal and International Organizations Programme, Amnesty International - International Secretariat (London).

Bennett Freeman, Principal at Bennett Freeman Associates (advises on human rights and labor rights). Associate Fellow - International Law Programme at Chatham House. Previous posts include Senior Vice President for Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments; Managing Director - Global Corporate Responsibility at Burson-Marsteller; US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State - Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. 

Tyler Giannini, Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School;  Founder and Director of Harvard Law School Human Rights Entrepreneurs Clinic; Faculty Associate at Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Focus includes international human rights; business and human rights. Previous posts include Director of Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic; Co-Director & Co-Founder of EarthRights International. 

Jennifer Green, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Human Rights Litigation and Advocacy Clinic - University of Minnesota Law School; Steering Committee - Business and Economic Relations Network at Amnesty International. Previous posts include clinical project supervisor and administrative director of Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program; Staff Attorney and Adjunct Professor at International Women's Human Rights Clinic - City University of New York Law School; Senior Attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights. 

Jill Heine, Adviser on International Human Rights Law and Policy. Previous positions include: Senior Legal and Policy Adviser (staff member and then consultant) at International Commission of Jurists; Legal and Policy Adviser, Researcher, and Campaigner at Amnesty International - International Secretariat (London). Principal author of Amnesty International's Fair Trial Manual (1st and 2nd editions). 

Paul Hoffman, Co-director - International Human Rights Litigation Clinic at UC Irvine School of Law. Has taught Human Rights Litigation at Harvard Law School; and taught at International Human Rights Law Summer School (Oxford University School of Law/George Washington University Law School). Legal Director of Guernica Centre for International Justice. Was Chair of International Executive Committee - Amnesty International. Was board member of Amnesty International USA; Article 19; International League for Human Rights; Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Previous posts include Legal Director of ACLU Foundation of Southern California. 

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Bert Lockwood, Professor of Law and Director of Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights - University of Cincinnati College of Law. Focus: International Human Rights; Constitutional Law. Editor-in-Chief of Human Rights Quarterly. Previous posts include Associate Dean at American University Law School; board member of Amnesty International USA. Co-founder of International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights). 

Hanny Megally, Deputy Director & Senior Fellow of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation; Commissioner on United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria. Previous posts include: Chief of Asia, Pacific, Middle East & North Africa at UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Vice-President for Programs at International Center for Transitional Justice; Executive Director of Middle East & North Africa at Human Rights Watch; Head of Middle East Research department at Amnesty International, International Secretariat; led Ford Foundation’s social justice program in Middle East (Cairo office). 

Juan Méndez, Professor of Human Rights Law at American University - Washington College of Law. Commissioner - International Commission of Jurists. International Advisory Board member - International Journal of Transitional Justice. Previous posts include United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture; member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; General Counsel of Human Rights Watch; President of International Center for Transitional Justice; Executive Director of Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.

Jessica Neuwirth, Director of Human Rights Program at Roosevelt House – Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. Founder and Director, Donor Direct Action. Founder and Co-President, new ERA Coalition. Co-founder and Honorary President of Equality Now. Worked at: Amnesty International; United Nations Office of Legal Affairs; UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights. Was special consultant on sexual violence to International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; directed legal team that drafted judgment of Special Court for Sierra Leone convicting former Liberian President Charles Taylor. 

Susan Waltz, Professor Emerita of Public Policy at Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy - University of Michigan. Focus on human rights and international affairs. Maintains the website Human Rights Advocacy and the History of International Human Rights Standards, hosted by University of Michigan. Served on International Executive Committee of Amnesty International and on board of Amnesty International USA.