PROFILES OF THE 346 SIGNATORIES
August 2024
Dear High Commissioner,
We, current and former UN and international human rights and legal experts and organisations as well as Nobel laureates and statesmen serving democracy and human rights, write following the publication of a landmark report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding Iran’s atrocity crimes over the past 45 years.
We would like to commend Prof. Javaid Rehman for his six years of distinguished service to the cause of human rights in Iran as Special Rapporteur and in particular for his courage and determination in seeking truth and accountability for the mass executions of tens of thousands of political prisoners in 1981-1982 and the 1988 massacre. We look forward to working with Prof. Rehman’s successor, Dr. Mai Sato, in pursuing the quest for truth and accountability, ending impunity, and guaranteeing non-recurrence.
Special Rapporteur Rehman has challenged the culture of impunity in Iran by underlining in his report that the 1988 extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances of thousands of political prisoners constitute ongoing crimes against humanity.
His report further states “there is considerable evidence that mass killings, torture and other inhumane acts against members of PMOI were conducted with genocidal intent.”
“Khomeini’s 1988 fatwa is manifestly clear that he intentionally and purposefully ordered the mass executions of all steadfast PMOI members, an ordinance which was also subsequently implemented against members of other groups. The wilful executioners implemented Khomeini’s fatwa in full knowledge that they were committing international crimes by systematically and deliberately murdering political prisoners all across the country in a coordinated manner.”
“The magnitude and numbers of those involved in these crimes is enormous stretching from the Supreme Leader, the Sharia’s judges, the prosecutors, representative from the Ministry of Intelligence, members of the “death commission” and their facilitators; prison guards, members of the Revolutionary Guards and all those who facilitated the commission of these crimes in international law and their subsequent ongoing concealment.”
The Special Rapporteur’s report opens a pathway to justice and an end to impunity in Iran. In line with his recommendations, we urge Your Excellency to use your good offices and call on the Human Rights Council to establish an international accountability mechanism to take actionable measures aimed at ending impunity for Iran’s atrocity crimes, chief among them the 1988 massacre.
In light of the Special Rapporteur’s landmark report, we also encourage the co-sponsors of the Canadian-led annual UN Third Committee resolution on Iran to include a specific reference to the 1988 massacre in this year’s resolution to meaningfully counter the ongoing culture of impunity in Iran.
Sincerely,
cc: H.E. Omar Zniber, President of the UN Human Rights Council
SIGNED:
Judge Sang-Hyun Song – (South Korea)
President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (2009-2015)
Prof. Leila Nadya Sadat – (United States)
Special Adviser on Crimes Against Humanity to the ICC Prosecutor (2012-2023)
Prof. William A. Schabas – (Canada)
Chair of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (2014-2015); President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (2009-2011)
Amb. Joachim Rücker – (Germany)
President of the UN Human Rights Council (2015); Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN in Geneva (2014-2016); Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (2006-2008)
Dr. Mark Ellis – (United Kingdom)
Executive Director, International Bar Association (IBA)
Prof. Robert K. Goldman – (United States)
President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga – (Latvia)
President of Latvia (1999-2007)
Prof. José Luís da Cruz Vilaça – (Portugal)
President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (1989-1995); Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union (2012-2018)
Amb. Stephen J. Rapp – (United States)
US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice (2009-2015)
Prof. Claudio Grossman – (Chile)
Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor (2021-present); Member, UN International Law Commission (ILC) (2016-present); President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) (1996, 2001); Chair, UN Committee against Torture (CAT) (4 terms, from 2008-2015)
Dr. Ana Brian Nougrères – (Uruguay)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy (2021-present)
Geoffrey Robertson AO KC – (Australia)
First President, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)
Dr. Margaret M. Deguzman – (United States)
Judge, UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (2021-present)
Prof. Lucia Serena Rossi – (Italy)
Judge, Court of Justice of the European Union (2018-present)
Miriam Ekiudoko – (Hungary)
Member of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (2021-present)
Oleksandra Matviichuk – (Ukraine)
2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Jody Williams – (United States)
1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
President Oscar Arias Sánchez – (Costa Rica)
1987 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Dr. Rowan Williams – (United Kingdom)
Former Archbishop of Canterbury
Cherie Blair CBE KC – (United Kingdom)
Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama – (Spain)
President, International Bar Association (IBA)
Prof. Juan E. Méndez – (Argentina)
Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide (2004-2007); UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010-2016); former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States
Yasmin Sooka – (South Africa)
Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (present)
Hon. Richard J. Goldstone – (South Africa)
Former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; Chair of the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (2009-2010)
Prof. Wolfgang Schomburg – (Germany)
Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2001-2008); former Judge, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); Judge, Federal Supreme Court of Germany (1995–2000)
Prof. Catherine Van de Heyning – (Belgium)
Member, UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
Anne Ramberg – (Sweden)
Co-Chair, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI); Ad hoc Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR); Board Member, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Dr. Karen Smith – (South Africa)
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect (2019-2021)
Berit Reiss-Andersen – (Norway)
Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Prof. Pablo de Greiff – (Colombia)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence (2012-2018)
Prof. Irwin Cotler – (Canada)
Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Kumi Naidoo – (South Africa)
Secretary General, Amnesty International (2018-2020)
Prof. Jan Pronk – (The Netherlands)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan (2004-2006); Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations (1985-1986)
Prof. Buhm-Suk Baek – (South Korea)
Member, UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
Anand Grover – (India)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2008-2014)
Amb. David J. Scheffer – (United States)
US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001); UN Secretary-General’s Special Expert on UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (2012-2018)
Prof. Manfred Nowak – (Austria)
Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice/Italy; Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (2004-2010)
Prof. Kevin Jon Heller – (United States)
Professor of International Law and Security, University of Copenhagen (Centre for Military Studies)
Prof. Pierre Sané – (Senegal)
Secretary General, Amnesty International (1992-2001)
Dr. Livingstone Sewanyana – (Uganda)
UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order (2018-2024)
Prof. David M. Crane – (United States)
Founding Chief Prosecutor, UN Special Court for Sierra Leone
Dainius Pūras – (Lithuania)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health (2014-2020); Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council (2018-2019); Director of the Human Rights Monitoring Institute / VŠĮ Žmogaus Teisių Stebėjimo Institutas
Maud De Boer-Buquicchio – (The Netherlands)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children (2014-2020); former Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt – (Germany)
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (2010-2016); former Director, German Institute for Human Rights / Deutsche Institut für Menschenrechte (DIMR)
Amb. Hans Corell – (Sweden)
Former Judge of Appeal; Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations (1994-2004)
Dr. Solomon Passy – (Bulgaria)
President of the UN Security Council (2002 and 2003); Former Chairman-in-Office, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); Former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria
Chris M. A. Kwaja – (Nigeria)
Member of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries (2018-2024)
Henrikas Mickevičius – (Lithuania)
Member, UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2015-2022)
Prof. Helen Keller – (Switzerland)
Judge, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) (2011-2020)
Amb. Johan C. Verbeke – (Belgium)
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations (2004-2008); President of the UN Security Council (2007); Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) in Georgia and Head of UNOMIG (2004-2010); Special UN Coordinator for Lebanon (2008)
Irene Victoria Massimino – (Argentina)
High Criminal Court Rapporteur of Buenos Aires, Argentina (2016-2020)
Prof. Jeremy Sarkin – (South Africa)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2008-2014)
Prof. Sara Chandler KC (Hon) – (United Kingdom)
Secretary to the Human Rights Commission of the European Bars Federation (FBE) and Former President of the FBE; Former Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Law Society of England & Wales
Prof. Ariel E. Dulitzky – (Argentina)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2010-2017)
Ingrid Betancourt – (Colombia)
Former Senator and Presidential candidate
Prof. Michael Lynk – (Canada)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories (2016-2022)
Malcolm Fowler – (United Kingdom)
Solicitor and Higher Court Advocate, member of JVMI
Prof. Giorgio Malinverni – (Switzerland)
Former Judge, European Court of Human Rights
Amb. Zorica Marić-Djordjević – (Montenegro)
Ambassador of Montenegro to the UN Human Rights Council and World Trade Organization (2013-2018)
Prof. François Crépeau – (Canada)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (2011-2017)
Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría – (Costa Rica)
Second Vice-President of Costa Rica (2014-2018); Costa Rican Ambassador to Spain (2018-2022)
Amb. Juan Esteban Aguirre Martinez – (Paraguay)
Foreign Minister of Paraguay (2000-2001); former Ambassador of Paraguay to the United Nations Office in Geneva; Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council (2015)
Prof. Urmila Bhoola – (South Africa)
UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (2014-2020)
Dr. Hans-Christof von Sponeck – (Germany)
Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq
Tahar Boumedra – (United Kingdom)
President, Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI); former Chief of UNAMI Human Rights Office and Representative of the HCHR in Iraq
Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu – (Nigeria)
Former UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights (2004-2010)
Sonja Biserko – (Serbia)
Member, UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2013-2014); Founder and President of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
Prof. Gabor Rona – (United States)
Chair-Rapporteur/Member of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries (2011-2019); Chief ad interim, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Protection of Civilians Section (2010)
Dr. Melanie O’Brien – (Australia)
President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS); Associate Professor of International Law, University of Western Australia
Gerald Staberock – (Germany)
Secretary General, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Prof. Giovanni Grasso – (Italy)
Former International Judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina; former Judge of the Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Prof. Sir Geoffrey Nice KC – (United Kingdom)
Lead prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milošević in The Hague; prosecuted the case of Bosnian Croat Dario Kordić at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), successfully prosecuted Goran Jelisić at the ICTY
Mike Smith – (Australia)
Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea (2014-2016); Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights (2004); Assistant Secretary-General of the UN in New York and Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (2007-2013); Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN in Geneva (2002-2006)
Jeppe Kofod – (Denmark)
Foreign Minister of Denmark (2019-2022)
Sir Richard J. Roberts – (United Kingdom)
1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Elfriede Jelinek – (Austria)
2004 Nobel Laureate in Literature
Prof. Michel Mayor – (Switzerland)
2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics
Prof. Barry C. Barish – (United States)
2017 Nobel Laureate in Physics
Prof. Sheldon Glashow – (United States)
1979 Nobel Laureate in Physics
Prof. Alan J. Heeger – (United States)
2000 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Prof. Joachim Frank – (United States)
2017 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Prof. Gregg L. Semenza – (United States)
2019 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Toby Cadman – (United Kingdom)
Co-founder of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers
Alda M. Facio – (Costa Rica)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls (2014-2020)
Prof. Jean Ziegler – (Switzerland)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2000-2008); former Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
Prof. Brice Dickson – (United Kingdom)
Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (1999-2005)
Prof. Ricardo A. Sunga III – (Philippines)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (2014-2021)
Prof. Gerard Quinn – (Ireland)
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2020-2023)
Prof. Fernand de Varennes – (Canada)
UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues (2017-2023)
Kyle Matthews – (Canada)
Executive Director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University
Prof. Hatem Kotrane – (Tunisia)
UN Independent Expert to Examine the Question of a Draft Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2001-2006); Member and Vice Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003-2013)
Prof. Josef Azizi – (Austria)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (1995-2013)
Frej Fenniche – (Switzerland)
Chief of Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch (APMENAB), OHCHR (2015-2017)
Prof. Franklin Dehousse – (Belgium)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2003-2016)
Hiljmnijeta Apuk – (Kosovo)
Winner, United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2013
Prof. Dante Pesce González – (Chile)
Chair/Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (2015-2021)
Prof. Andrzej Rzepliński – (Poland)
President of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland (2010-2016)
Melissa Parke – (Australia)
Member, UN Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (2017–2021)
Prof. Ralf Michaels – (Germany)
Director, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy – (United States)
Founder, The Kennedy Forum; Former Member of the US House of Representatives
Amb. Amanda Ellis – (New Zealand)
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the UN in Geneva (2013-2016)
Marek Antoni Nowicki – (Poland)
Former President of the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo; UN-appointed International Ombudsperson in Kosovo (2000-2005)
Lord Alton of Liverpool – (United Kingdom)
Member of the House of Lords
Amb. Filloreta Kodra – (Albania)
Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations in Geneva
Prof. Frances Raday – (Israel)
Former Chair of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; former member of the Committee to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Klaus U. Rackwitz – (Germany)
Former Director, International Nuremberg Principles Academy
Prof. Danwood M. Chirwa – (South Africa)
Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town; Former Chair of the Board of the UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
Prof. Christian Tomuschat – (Germany)
President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration (2013-2019); Member of the UN Human Rights Committee (1977-1986); Member and Chairman of the UN International Law Commission (1985-1996)
Prof. Valeriu M. Ciucă – (Romania)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2007-2010)
Prof. Eric Heinze – (United Kingdom)
Executive Director, Centre for Law, Democracy, and Society (CLDS), Queen Mary University of London
Lysa John Berna – (South Africa)
Secretary General, CIVICUS
Prof. Vilenas Vadapalas – (Lithuania)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (2004-2013)
Prof. Rui Manuel Gens Moura Ramos – (Portugal)
Judge, General Court of the European Union (1995-2003); President of the Constitutional Court of Portugal (2007-2012)
Prof. Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen – (France)
Former President of the Constitutional Court of Andorra (2014-2016)
Prof. David R. Boyd – (Canada)
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment (2018-2024)
Baskut Tuncak – (Turkey)
UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights (2014-2020)
Tracy Edwards MBE – (United Kingdom)
Founder, The Maiden Factor
Stanislav Pavlovschi – (Moldova)
Judge, European Court of Human Rights (2001-2008)
Dr. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey – (United States)
Executive Director, Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention
Hans Noot – (The Netherlands)
Director, Gerard Noodt Foundation for Freedom of Religion or Belief
Prof. Rebecca Cook – (Canada)
Professor Emerita, Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto
Prof. Nicholas Grief – (United Kingdom)
Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Kent
Prof. Pearl Eliadis – (Canada)
Associate Professor, McGill University
Achille Campagna – (San Marino)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Amos Waldman – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Marion Böker – (Germany)
Director, Consultancy for Human Rights & Gender Issues
Prof. Aurora Ciucă – (Romania)
President, “Vespasian V. Pella” Association; Faculty of Law and Public Administration, University “Ștefan cel Mare”
Dr. Victoria Sanford – (United States)
Founding Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies at Lehman College-City University of New York (CUNI); Lehman Professor of Excellence, 2021-2024
Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy – (United States)
Executive Director, World Without Genocide
Mélanie Sonhaye-Kombate – (Togo)
Executive Director, West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN / ROADDH)
Prof. Errol P. Mendes – (Canada)
President, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Canadian Section; Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
Claude Nicati – (Switzerland)
Deputy Prosecutor General of Switzerland (2001-2009)
David Russell – (United Kingdom)
UK Coordinator, Survivors Fund (SURF)
Cynthia Tai – (United States)
Executive Director, Project Expedite Justice (PEJ); pro tem Judge in the State of Hawaii
Debbie Stothard – (Vietnam)
Secretary-General, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (2013-2019)
Dr. Frank Chalk – (Canada)
Emeritus Professor of History and Founding Co-director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Concordia University; President, Association of Genocide Scholars (1999-2001)
Prof. Predrag Dojčinović – (United States)
Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate at the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut; War Crimes expert at the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICTY (1998-2017)
Prof. Jerry P. White – (Canada)
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Western University
Dr. Felicity Gerry KC – (United Kingdom)
Professor of Legal Practice, Deakin University; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Steven Leonard Jacobs – (United States)
Professor of Religious Studies, University of Alabama; former First Vice-President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)
Eric Sottas – (Switzerland)
Founder and former Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Bernard Kouchner – (France)
Foreign Minister of France (2007-2010); UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo (SRSG) (1999-2001)
Dick Spring – (Ireland)
Foreign Minister of Ireland (1994-1997)
Michael S. Greco – (United States)
President of the American Bar Association (2005-2006)
Luciano Hazan – (Argentina)
Chair-Rapporteur and Member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) (2017-2023); Member of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) (2011-2017)
Prof. Caroline Bennett – (New Zealand)
Lecturer in Social Anthropology and International Development, University of Sussex School of Global Studies
Elisabeth Rabesandratana – (France)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Hilary Earl – (Canada)
Professor of European History and Genocide Studies, Nipissing University
Thom Dyke – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Deka Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Eleonora Mongelli – (Italy)
Vice President, FIDU – Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani (Italian Federation for Human Rights)
Mark Stephens CBE – (United Kingdom)
Co-Chair, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
Prof. Dr. Susanne Brandtstädter – (Germany)
Professor and Chair of the Anthropology of Globalization at the University of Cologne
Prof. Milena Sterio – (United States)
Managing Director, Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG)
Dr. Maude Barlow – (Canada)
Former Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly; Former Chairperson of the Council of Canadians
Kate Mackintosh – (United Kingdom)
Executive Director, Promise Institute Europe, UCLA School of Law
Prof. David J. Simon – (United States)
Director, Yale University Genocide Studies Program
Dr. Élise Le Gall – (France)
President, French Association for the Promotion of Universal Jurisdiction (AFPCU); Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Peter Carter KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, London; former Chair of Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)
Nigel Edwards KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Lamb Building
Adam M. VanHo – (United States)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Senator Cinzia Pellegrino – (Italy)
Senator; FDI Group Leader in the Senate Commission for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights; National Coordinator of the Victims Department of FDI
Arbana Xharra – (Kosovo)
Recipient of US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award 2015
Anila Ali – (United States)
President and CEO, American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council
Prof. Maria Neus Torbisco-Casals – (Switzerland)
Senior Research Fellow, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute
Gabrielle Louise McIntyre – (Australia/Cyprus)
International Consultant, Lex Collective; Climate Counsel, Anti-Corruption Authority
Dr. William H. Wiley – (Canada)
Executive Director, Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA)
Prof. Ben Kiernan – (United States)
Founding Director, Cambodian Genocide Program, Yale University
Prof. Alexandro Álvarez – (Chile)
UN Expert, Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (2022-2023)
Amb. Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. – (United States)
US Special Envoy (2008-2009); US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs (2001-2005); Chairman Emeritus, Stimson Center
Ronita Ghosh – (India)
President, World Chamber for Social Business (WCSB)
Dr. Anja Matwijkiw – (Denmark)
Professor of Ethics & Human Rights at the Indiana University Graduate School & Department of Philosophy, Indiana University Northwest
Diana Ellis KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, 25 Bedford Row; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Tomas Manguel – (Argentina)
Professor of International Criminal Law, Universidad de Buenos Aires; former Senior Legal Officer, Federal Criminal Court of Cassation
Jonathan Arkush – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Enterprise Chambers
Prof. Marie Fox – (United Kingdom)
Queen Victoria Chair of Law, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
Prof. Alex Neve – (Canada)
Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa; Adjunct Professor, Faculties of Law, University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University; Former Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
James Joseph – (United Kingdom)
Director, The Duty Legacy
Paulo Casaca – (Portugal)
Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum; Former Member of the European Parliament
Gabriella Catalini – (Italy)
Adjunct professor, Department of Legal Studies, University of Bologna
Lord Hendy KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister; Member of the UK House of Lords
Saeed Mokbil – (Yemen)
Former Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries
Leto Cariolou – (Cyprus / United Kingdom)
Barrister, Garden Court Chambers; Former Legal Officer, UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals
Jessica Peake – (United States)
Assistant Director, The Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA School of Law
Prof. Paul H. Robinson – (United States)
Colin S. Diver Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Rev. Dr. Johnnie Moore – (United States)
President, The Congress of Christian Leaders
Dr. Gregory H. Stanton – (United States)
Founding President, Genocide Watch
Amb. Theodore Sedgwick – (United States)
US Ambassador to Slovakia (2010-2015)
Prof. Israel W. Charny – (Israel)
Executive Director, Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, Jerusalem
Prof. Robert J. Currie KC – (Canada)
Viscount Bennett Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
Savita Pawnday – (India)
Executive Director, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
Prof. Sir Mark Vlasic – (United States)
Legal Officer, Office of the Prosecutor, UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (2001-2003)
Prof. Siri Gloppen – (Norway)
Professor, University of Bergen; Director, Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen
Pierre Bercis – (France)
President, Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme (NDH)
Dr. Juan E. Garcés – (Spain)
Winner of the 1999 Right Livelihood Award (Sweden); Lawyer and former advisor to Chilean President Salvador Allende
Dominique Attias – (France)
Former President, European Bars Federation / Fédération des Barreaux d’Europe (FBE)
Antonio Stango – (Italy)
President, Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU)
Rabbi Abraham Cooper – (United States)
Chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (2023-2024); Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, Simon Wiesenthal Center
David Matas – (Canada)
Human rights lawyer and Co-Founder of International Coalition To End Transplant Abuse In China
Amb. Ken Blackwell – (United States)
Former US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights
Prof. Noelle Quénivet – (United Kingdom)
Professor in International Law, University of the West of England
Dr. Mireille Rebeiz – (United States)
Chair of Middle East Studies & Associate Professor, Dickinson College
Peter Stafverfeldt – (Sweden)
Chief Judge, Skaraborg District Court
The Hon. Tony Clement PC – (Canada)
Former Member of Parliament from Canada; former Canadian Minister of Industry, Minister of Health and President of the Treasury Board
Sheila Paylan – (Armenia/Canada)
Human Rights Lawyer and Senior Legal Consultant with the United Nations
Prof. Stephen Eric Bronner – (United States)
Co-Director, International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue (ICDD); Board of Governors Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Rutgers University
Jonathan Elystan Rees KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at 5 Paper Buildings; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court
Prof. Alexander Motyl – (United States)
Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University
Dr. Denakpon L. Tchobo – (United States)
Adjunct Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law; President, Global Justice Intelligence Eyes (GJIE)
Tarazi Mohammed Sheikh – (Bangladesh)
Human Rights Activist
Prof. Alexander Alvarez – (United States)
Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University
Prof. Bruce Robbins – (United States)
Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
Prof. Phil Scraton – (United Kingdom / Ireland)
Emeritus Professor, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast (QUB)
Roberto Durrieu – (Argentina)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Dr. Kamal Sido – (Germany)
Middle East Advisor, Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) / Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (GfbV)
ElsaMarie Dsilva – (India)
Founder and President, Red Dot Foundation Global
Kimmo Sasi – (Finland)
Former President of the Nordic Council; Chair of the Constitutional and Human Rights Committee of Parliament of Finland (2003-2011)
Prof. Monica Iyer – (United States)
Professor, Georgia State University College of Law
Clair Mahon – (New Zealand)
Executive Director, Global Human Rights Group
Alice Benhamou Panetta – (France)
President, Vivent Les Femmes (VLF); Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur
Karen Gomez Dumpit – (Philippines)
Former Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR)
Prof. Juan Carlos Manriquez – (Chile)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC); Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Proceedings and International Criminal Law
Judge Tom C. Rawlings – (United States)
Former Director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services and former Judge of the US Juvenile Courts
Prof. James Silk – (United States)
Binger Clinical Professor Emeritus of Human Rights and Former Director, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic, Yale Law School
Brian Kennedy – (United States)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Richard C. Dieter – (United States)
Former Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center; Adjunct Professor of Law, Catholic University of America
Prof. Yasushi Higashizawa – (Japan)
Professor, Faculty of Law, Meijigakuin University; Co-Chair, Human Rights Committee of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA); Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Max du Plessis – (South Africa)
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers; Senior Counsel; Adjunct Professor, University of Cape Town and Nelson Mandela University
Dr. Tracy M. Lemos – (Canada)
Professor of Women and Gender Studies and Diaspora and Transnational Studies, Graduate Director of Jewish Studies, University of Toronto
Dr. Eyal Mayroz – (Australia)
Senior Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney
Prof. Timothy J. Christian KC – (Canada)
Chief Federal Negotiator of the Government of Canada (1996–2010); Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta (1985-1995)
Prof. Rosa Ana Alija Fernández – (Spain)
Associate Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Barcelona
Prof. Ray Murphy – (Ireland)
Professor, Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, University of Galway
Eoin McGonigal – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel
Jan-Erik Enestam – (Finland)
Former Minister of Defence
William Penrose – (Ireland)
Counsel, The Bar of Ireland
Joan Francesca Quint – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Radcliffe Chambers
Edwin Glasgow CBE KC – (United Kingdom)
President, International Tribunal of the FIA (2011-2020)
Filippo Cesaris – (Italy)
Vice President of FDU – Fondazione Diritti Umani (Human Rights Foundation)
John Balouziyeh – (United States)
Attorney; International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Instructor, American Red Cross
David Strupek – (Czech Republic)
Lawyer, ECOVIS
Elise Groulx Diggs – (Canada)
International Human Rights lawyer and mediator; Founder and Honorary President of the International Criminal Bar for the International Criminal Court
Christina Blacklaws – (United Kingdom)
President of the Law Society of England and Wales (2018-2019)
Prof. Tonio Borg – (Malta)
European Commissioner for Health (2012-2014); Foreign Minister of Malta (2008-2012); Justice Minister of Malta (2003-2008)
R. Bruce McColm – (United States)
President, Institute for Democratic Strategies; former Executive Director, Freedom House
Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips – (United Kingdom & Nigeria)
Barrister, Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Geoffrey Dancy – (United States)
Director, Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools (TJET); Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Amb. Marc Ginsberg – (United States)
United States Ambassador to Morocco (1994-1998)
Prof. Steven M. Schneebaum – (United States)
Adjunct Professor of International Law, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University
Hon. Dr. Jocelynne A. Scutt – (United Kingdom / Australia)
Senior Fellow at the University of Buckingham, former Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of Tasmania, and former judge on the High Court of Fiji
Daniele Vecchi – (Italy)
Partner, Gianni & Origoni
Prof. Soledad Villagra – (Paraguay)
Member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (2002-2008)
Dr. Andrew Woolford – (Canada)
Former President, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS); Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba
Prof. James Yap – (Canada)
Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Prof. Gill H. Boehringer – (Australia)
Dean (ret.), Macquarie University Law School, Sydney; Co-Chair, Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers, International Association of Peoples Lawyers
Nick Brown – (United Kingdom)
Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers
Dr. Sibylle von Heydebrand – (Switzerland)
Representative of the International Alliance of Women (IAW) at the United Nations in Geneva
Prof. Rudolf Mellinghoff – (Germany)
Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (2001-2011); President of Federal Fiscal Court of Germany (2011-2020)
Gulnara Shahinian – (Armenia)
UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Including Its Causes and Consequences (2008-2014)
Tali Nates – (South Africa)
Founder and Executive Director, Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center
Cemil Yildirim – (Kuwait)
Associate Professor of Comparative Law, Gulf University for Science and Technology
Almudena Bernabeu – (Spain)
Executive Director, Guernica Centre for International Justice
Prof. Eve Zucker – (United States)
Lecturer at Yale University
James Wood KC – (United Kingdom)
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Dr. David E. Pettigrew – (United States)
CSU Professor and Chairperson, Philosophy Department, Southern Connecticut State University
Allison Pearson – (United Kingdom)
Daily Telegraph columnist and bestselling author
Prof. Gay McDougall – (United States)
Vice Chair, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD); UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues (2005-2011)
Prof. Eric Stover – (United States)
Co-Faculty Director, Human Rights Center, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
Prof. Monika Płatek – (Poland)
UN Expert, OHCHR Examination of the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (2023-present)
Luz E. Nagle – (United States)
Professor of Law Emeritus, Stetson University College of Law
Dr. Paulo Ilich Bacca – (Colombia)
Deputy Director, Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia)
Prof. Natasha Lindstaedt – (United Kingdom)
Faculty Dean of Education (Social Sciences UG), Department of Government, University of Essex
Dr. Yevgeniy Zhovtis – (Kazakhstan)
Director, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR)
Silke Studzinsky – (Germany)
Former International Civil Party Lawyer at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia; Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Christoph Degenhart – (Germany)
Professor emeritus of law, University of Leipzig; Former judge of the Constitutional Court State of Saxony
Dr. James Mehigan – (Ireland / United States)
Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Canterbury
Darragh Mackin – (Ireland)
Director, Phoenix Law Human Rights Lawyers
Anastasiia Nenka – (Ukraine)
Director, Women’s Information Consultative Center (WICC)
Oleksandr Humirov – (Ukraine)
Lawyer
Prof. Fannie Lafontaine – (Canada)
Professor, Faculty of Law, Université Laval; Canada Research Chair in International Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Université Laval
Sergio D’Elia – (Italy)
Secretary General, Hands Off Cain
Elisabetta Zamparutti – (Italy)
Co-founder and Treasurer of Hands Off Cain, former Member of Parliament
Anatol Șalaru – (Moldova)
Minister of Defence of Moldova (2015-2016)
Judy Sgro – (Canada)
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada (2003-2005)
Mark Harty – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel
Vincent Heneghan – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel
Roberto Gargarella – (Argentina)
Professor of Constitutional Theory and Political Philosophy at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
Thomas F. Creed – (Ireland)
Senior Counsel
Stephen Cragg KC – (United Kingdom)
Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) (2022-2023)
François Audet – (Canada)
Director of the Montreal Institute of International Studies (IEIM)
Dr Kate Ferguson – (United Kingdom)
Co-Executive Director, Protection Approaches
Dr. Stephanie Wolfe – (United States)
Professor, Department of Political Science and Philosophy, Weber State University (WSU); First Vice-President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (2023-2025)
Emanuelis Zingeris – (Lithuania)
Member of Parliament; Head, Seimas Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Melinda Taylor – (Australia)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Prof. Eva Pils – (United Kingdom)
Humboldt Professor of Human Rights Law, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
Dr. Mark Kersten – (Canada)
Assistant Professor, Criminology & Criminal Justice, the University of the Fraser Valley
Greg Boos – (United States)
Member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Dr. Maxim Pensky – (United States)
Co-Director of the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), Binghamton University, NY
Reed Brody – (United States)
Member, International Commission of Jurists; former Deputy Chief of the UN Secretary-General’s Investigative Team in the Democratic Republic of Congo; former Director of the Human Rights Division of the UN Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL)
Dr. Kerry Whigham – (United States)
Co-Director, Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP), Binghamton University
Dr. François Larocque – (Canada)
Professor, Research Chair in Language Rights, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa
Dato’ Shyamala Alagendra – (Malaysia)
Gender Advisor to the OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability project; Former Gender and Child Rights Advisor to the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM); International Criminal Lawyer
Prof. David Palumbo-Liu – (United States)
Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford University
Prof. Naomi Roht-Arriaza – (United States)
Distinguished Professor of Law (emeritus), UC Law San Francisco
Dr. Katerina Hatzikidi – (United Kingdom)
Postdoctoral Researcher, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (Germany); Research Affiliate, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford
Habib Nassar – (Brazil)
Attorney; Former Senior Transitional Justice Advisor/Human Rights Officer, OHCHR
Bert Lockwood – (United States)
Distinguished Service Professor and Director, Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati
Prof. Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón – (Colombia)
Member and Rapporteur of the UN Committee Against Torture (2018-2021); Ad Hoc Judge, Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) (2007-2011); Professorial Lecturer in-residence and Co-Director, Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law
Prof. Vrinda Narain – (Canada)
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, McGill University
Prof. Roger S. Clark – (New Zealand)
Board of Governors Professor Emeritus, Rutgers Law School, Camden, New Jersey; Member, UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (1987-1990)
Anabela Atanásio Alves – (Portugal)
Senior International Criminal Lawyer; Former Legal Adviser to the UN ICTY, the ICC, OSCE and International Nuremberg Principles Academy
Dr. Jasminka Džumhur – (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW); Former Vice-Chair of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID)
Prof. John Packer – (Canada)
Former UN Staff Member, Member of the UN’s Standby Team of Mediation Experts (2012-2014); Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
William Bourdon – (France)
International human rights lawyer; Founder of SHERPA; President of PPLAAF
Sara Elizabeth Dill – (United States)
Partner at Anethum Global; Former Director of Criminal Justice Standards and Policy for the American Bar Association (ABA)
Dr. Anna Adamska-Gallant – (Poland)
Attorney at law, expert in international humanitarian law, human rights and rule of law; Judge in Poland (2003-2013); International Judge of the Supreme Court of Kosovo (2015-2018)
Co-signatory organisations:
Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI) – (United Kingdom)
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) – (United Kingdom)
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) – (United States)
Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) – Concordia University – (Canada)
Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) – (Ukraine)
2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
CIVICUS – (South Africa)
Guernica 37 Chambers – (United Kingdom)
Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (I-GMAP) at Binghamton University – (United States)
Italian Federation for Human Rights – Federazione Italiana Diritti Umani (FIDU) – (Italy)
German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (GCADP) – (Germany)
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention – (United States & Argentina)
Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) – (United States)
Genocide Watch – (United States)
West African Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN/ROADDH) – (Togo)
APRODEH (Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos) – (Peru)
Gerard Noodt Foundation for Freedom of Religion or Belief – (The Netherlands)
Le Comité de soutien aux droits de l’homme en Iran (CSDHI) – (France)
ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) – (Thailand)
Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme (NDH) – (France)
World Without Genocide – (United States)
Women’s Human Rights International Association (WHRIA) – (France)
Global Justice Intelligence Eyes (GJIE) – (United States)
Red Dot Foundation Global – (United States)
Hands Off Cain – (Italy)
World Chamber for Social Business (WCSB) – (India)
International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue (ICDD) – (France)
Global Human Rights Group – (Switzerland)
Project Expedite Justice (PEJ) – (United States)
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR) – (Kazakhstan)
The Global Committee for the Rule of Law “Marco Pannella” – (Italy)
Women’s Information Consultative Center (WICC) – (Ukraine)