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>>

Our People>>

COUNCIL STEERING COMMITTEE

Nadia Chatti-Beck, Zürich Committee Member                                                                                             
Nancy Englander, Santa Barbara Committee Member
David Lakhdhir, London Committee Co-Chair/Asia Advisory Committee Chair
Victoria Riskin, HRW Board Member/Santa Barbara Committee 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

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 

Hamburg
Nikolaus Broschek, Co-Chair
Antoinette Zornig, 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

Zürich
Thomas W. Bechtler, Chair
Mariel Hoch, Vice Chair
Irene M. Staehelin, Vice Chair

THE UNITED KINGDOM
London
Tony Elliott, Co-Chair
David Lakhdhir, Co-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
Victoria Riskin, Chair
Adrienne O'Donnell, Vice Chair
Cheryl D. Justice, Vice Chair
Rita Moya, Vice Chair
Honorable Susan Rose, Vice Chair

COUNCIL AMBASSADORS
Janneke Dreesmann -  Brussels, Belgium
Christophe Tanghe - Brussels, Belgium
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