Niku Jafarnia

Niku Jafarnia is the acting deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch and a researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division. She supports the organization’s engagement with the United States government on global human rights issues, and also investigates human rights abuses in Yemen and Bahrain, and armed conflict-related abuses elsewhere in the region. She previously worked with Mwatana for Human Rights, a Yemeni civil society organization, seeking accountability for violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen, as well as the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), where she led research on civilian harm in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. Niku holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.