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), 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 demogra ...
.
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 Farg ...
, Chief Security Officer at
Uber
*
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 Wh ...
, head of public relations at
Amazon
*
Sarah Cleveland
Sarah Hull Cleveland is an American law professor and noted expert in international law and the constitutional law of U.S. foreign relations, with particular interests in the status of international law in U.S. domestic law, international and comp ...
, 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 i ...
*
Kerry Kennedy, President of
RFK Human Rights
*
Robert A. Mandell
Robert A. "Bobby" Mandell (born 1947) is an American attorney, diplomat and businessman who also served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 2011 to 2015.
Mandell practiced law before moving into family business in real estate dev ...
, 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 hig ...
;
Mars, Inc.
Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021.
Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest private ...
(Ret.)
*
Nazanin Rafsanjani, former head of New Show Development at
Gimlet Media and
Spotify
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, 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 Posnerfrom the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Interview with Tad Stahnkefrom the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
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Non-profit organizations based in New York City
Human rights organizations based in the United States