Holly Cartner

Holly Cartner currently works as a deputy program director at Human Rights Watch, helping to oversee the organization’s research and reporting. Cartner served for over 15 years as director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch, overseeing research and advocacy work in over 25 countries in that region. She first joined Human Rights Watch in 1990 to establish and head a field office for Human Rights Watch in Romania immediately after the fall of Ceausescu; conducted research, reporting, and advocacy on human rights abuses in numerous countries in Eastern Europe, and on right-wing violence in Germany in the immediate aftermath of Germany's reunification. She has also conducted research in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo on the impact on girls and women of attacks on education. 

Cartner holds a master’s degree in political science with a concentration in East European affairs and a law degree from Columbia University.