Human Rights First (formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights) is a

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

, international human rights organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C. In 2004, Human Rights First started its "End Torture Now" campaign. The organization also runs the Fighting Discrimination program which focuses on

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

Board of Directors

Human Rights First is governed by a board of directors composed of 73 members, including a 30-person Board of Advocates and a 12-person Emeritus Board. Members of the board include: * Mona Sutphen, Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group *

Matthew G. Olsen Matthew Glen Olsen (born February 21, 1962) is an American attorney who has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division since 2021. He is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Born in Fargo ...

, Chief Security Officer at

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...

Jay Carney James Ferguson 'Jay' Carney (born May 22, 1965) is an American public relations officer, political advisor and journalist who has served as Amazon's Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs from 2015 to 2022, and the United States Whi ...

, head of public relations at

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

* Sarah Cleveland, Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights

Columbia University Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked ...

* Kerry Kennedy, President of RFK Human Rights * Robert A. Mandell, former Ambassador to Luxembourg; Chairman & CEO of Greater Properties, Inc. (Ret.) * Alberto J. Mora, Senior Fellow at Carr Center for Human Rights Policy; Chief Legal Officer at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

;

Mars, Inc. Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of Animal welfare, animal care services, with United States dollar, US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021. Mars wa ...

(Ret.) * Nazanin Rafsanjani, former head of New Show Development at Gimlet Media and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

Pro Bono Legal Representation for Asylum Seekers

Human Rights First's pro bono legal representation program matches good lawyers with asylum-seekers who need help and would not otherwise be able to afford high-quality legal representation. The organization helps asylum seekers living in the greater Washington D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston metropolitan areas who do not already have legal representation, cannot afford an attorney, and need help with a claim for asylum or other protection-based form of immigration status. The organization's New York and Houston offices can also help people who are seeking asylum from within a nearby immigration detention center.

Selected publications

* ''The War Against Children: South Africa’s Youngest Victims'',

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

, 1986. *''Vigilantes in the Philippines: A Threat to Democratic Rule'', Diane Orentlicher, 1988. *''Refuge Denied: Problems in the Protection of Vietnamese and Cambodians in Thailand and the Admission of Indochinese Refugees into the United States'', Albert Santoli, 1989. *''Paper Laws, Steel Bayonets: Breakdown of the Rule of Law in Haiti'', Elliot Schrage, 1990. *''Childhood Abducted: Children Cutting Sugar Cane in the Dominican Republic'', Theresa A. Amato, 1991.

References

External links

Interview with Michael Posner
from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Interview with Tad Stahnke
from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum {{authority control Non-profit organizations based in New York City Human rights organizations based in the United States