Founded in 1998, the Human Rights Watch Council is a global network of more than 600 volunteers in 32 cities who support the organization through fundraising, outreach, and advocacy. Council members are active ambassadors for Human Rights Watch in their communities, building our global defense of human rights and providing us with a strong presence in key cities and countries. Composed of supporters from a variety of backgrounds, the Council seeks to advance the mission of Human Rights Watch to protect people everywhere from human rights abuses worldwide and press for the change needed to protect vulnerable people everywhere.
View Our Board of Directors>>
COUNCIL STEERING COMMITTEE
Nancy Englander, Santa Barbara Committee Member
David Lakhdhir, London Committee Chair/Asia Advisory Committee Chair
Glenda Nühn, Amsterdam Committee Member
Victoria Riskin, HRW Board Member/Santa Barbara Committee Co-Chair
Pascaline Servan-Schreiber, New York Committee Member/Paris Committee Member
Siri Stolt-Nielsen, HRW Board Member/Oslo Ambassador/London Committee Member
Marie Warburg, HRW Board Member/Berlin Committee Co-Chair
Catherine Zennström, HRW Board Member/London Committee Member/Paris Committee Member
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH COMMITTEES
AUSTRALIA
Sydney
Morna Seres, Chair
BELGIUM
Brussels
Janneke Dreesmann-Beerkens, Co Chair
Christophe Tanghe, Co Chair
CANADA
Ottawa
Allan Rock, Ottawa Chair
Toronto
Sarah Dinnick, Canada Chair
FRANCE
Paris
Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber, Chair
GERMANY
Berlin
Katrin Sandman, Chair
Antonia Josten, Vice Chair
Frankfurt
Katherine Fürstenberg-Raettig, Co-Chair
Elisabeth Strobl-Haarmann, Co-Chair
Munich
Ulrike Langenscheidt, Chair
Friederike von Stackelberg, Vice Chair
JAPAN
Tokyo
Oki Matsumoto, Chair
Mamoru Taniya, Vice Chair
Kimiya Yamamoto, Vice Chair
LEBANON
Beirut
Mohamed Y. Alem, Co-Chair
Chadia El Meouchi, Co-Chair
THE NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam
Peter Visser, Chair
Marjan Sax, Vice Chair
Françoise van Rappard, Vice Chair
SWITZERLAND
Geneva
Neil Rimer, Chair
Loubna Freih Georges, Vice Chair
Michel Halpérin, Honorary Chair
Zurich
Thomas W. Bechtler, Chair
Mariel Hoch, Vice Chair
Irene M. Staehelin, Vice Chair
THE UNITED KINGDOM
London
David Lakhdhir, Chair
THE UNITED STATES
California Committee North
Amy Rao, Chair
Darian Swig, Chair Emerita
California Committee South
Kimberly Marteau Emerson, Co-Chair
Sid Sheinberg, Co-Chair
William D. Temko, Co-Chair
Jonathan Feldman, Vice Chair
Jane Olson, Co-Founder
Mike Farrell, Co-Chair Emeritus
Shari Leinwand, Co-Chair Emerita
Victoria Riskin, Co-Chair Emerita
Chicago
Elizabeth Cicchelli, Co-Chair
Dedrea Gray, Co-Chair
Judy Gaynor, Founding Co-Chair
Susan Manilow, Founding Co-Chair
New York
Kristen Durkin, Co-Chair
Amy Towers, Co-Chair
Michael G. Fisch, Chair Emeritus
Kevin P. Ryan, Chair Emeritus
Santa Barbara
Cheryl D. Justice, Co-Chair
Victoria Riskin, Co-Chair
Honorable Susan Rose, Co-Chair
Adrienne O'Donnell, Vice Chair
COUNCIL AMBASSADORS
Ellen Susman - Houston, United States
Siri Stolt-Nielsen - Oslo, Norway
Andrea de Botton Dreesmann - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Luiz Felipe d’Avila - São Paulo, Brazil
Olfa Rambourg - Tunis, Tunisia
Betsy Karel - Washington, D.C., United States
