November 2011
CT NOW’s Activist of the Month Award Goes To:
Gissou Nia
Gissou Nia was chosen for Activist of the Month for November because of the amazing work she has done to protect human rights and women’s rights around the world. Gissou recently accepted the Executive Director postion for The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC). She rejoins IHRDC from her recent posting on a trial team at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands. Prior to that, she was a Legal Analyst at IHRDC and led field investigations in Turkey and Europe to collect documentation and interview 150+ survivors of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). She produced comprehensive reports on human rights violations of the rights of women and ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. She also advised governmental and regional bodies, policy makers, and non-governmental organizations on the human rights situation in Iran and the larger region.
Prior to her tenure at IHRDC, Gissou worked on war crimes trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where she represented former government ministers from Bosnia and Kosovo in pre-trial, trial, and appellate proceedings. In her post at the ICTY, she conducted field investigations in the former Yugoslavia, and specialized in the doctrines of joint criminal enterprise and command responsibility liability. Most recently, she assisted in proceedings at the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to allegations of crimes against humanity committed during the 2007/2008 post election violence in the Republic of Kenya.
To read the article that was written about Gissou click here.
We are very impressed with Gissou Nia and hope you are too. Congratulations Gissou!