(Bangkok, February 23, 2026) — Global leaders in
business, law, politics and government, human rights,
academia, the arts, and entertainment have joined together
to form a new Leadership Council at Fortify Rights, the
organization announced today. This diverse, 28-member body
will advise Fortify Rights and engage in targeted,
lifesaving advocacy to prevent and respond to mass atrocity
crimes, and promote and protect human rights
worldwide.
Comprising former government ministers and
ambassadors, parliamentarians, U.N. Special Rapporteurs,
renowned legal experts, acclaimed artists, bestselling
authors, and influential figures from the business and
creative sectors, the Leadership Council represents a
uniquely accomplished, wise, and powerful cross-sector
coalition of allies in support of justice and human
rights.
The Council spans five continents and
includes leaders whose collective visibility and expertise
send a powerful message of solidarity to communities under
threat—and a warning to human rights abusers that global
scrutiny has not ended.
“Human rights
work is strongest when it bridges worlds—from courtrooms
to parliaments, classrooms to boardrooms, grassroots
communities to global institutions,” said Matthew
Smith, founder and Chief Executive Officer at Fortify
Rights. “This Council reflects that truth. At a time of
global crisis, their willingness to stand with frontline
defenders elevates our mission and helps protect those who
need it most. The Council exists to close the gap between
documentation and decision-making. It is designed to
intervene—quietly or publicly—at moments when human
rights and civilian lives are most at
risk.”
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The
Leadership Council
will work with Fortify Rights,
in part, to intervene in moments of crisis, using their
platforms, influence, and expertise to help end and address
genocide, crimes against humanity, and other mass atrocity
crimes and human rights violations.
Lord Alton of
Liverpool, member of the U.K. House of Lords and Chair of
Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights,
said:
Genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes – mass atrocities – are perpetrated
around the world with impunity. Human rights defenders,
political activists, ethnic and religious minorities around
the world face grave persecution and repression. Fortify
Rights does vital work investigating and documenting these
atrocities and violations, engaging with policymakers and
advocating for action to end impunity and hold the
perpetrators accountable, and, meanwhile, strengthening
local human rights defenders on the frontlines. It is an
honour to join the new Leadership Council of Fortify Rights,
alongside many distinguished politicians, academics,
diplomats, lawyers, entrepreneurs and leaders from many
other fields from around the world, to shine a light on the
darkest corners of the world, to bring severe human rights
violations to the world’s attention, and to seek the
protection of human rights for all.
Kerry
Kennedy, President of the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human
Rights Center, said:
The cracks in the
world of order are growing every day. The United States
recently pulled out of 60 international organizations,
kidnapped a sitting head of state in violation of
international law, and threatened to invade Greenland. At
this moment of turbulence and danger, Fortify Rights is on
the front lines, protecting dignity, holding perpetrators
accountable, and building a just and peaceful world. We have
partnered with Fortify Rights in Myanmar, Bangladesh,
Ukraine, and beyond. They are diligent, trustworthy,
compassionate, and as tough as it comes. I am honored to
join the Leadership Council.
Tom
Tugendhat MP, the UK’s former Security Minister and former
Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee,
said:
That ambition – to ensure human
rights for all, and especially accountability for mass
atrocity crimes – is what I admire about Fortify Rights,
and why I am delighted and honored to join their new
Leadership Council. I am proud to serve alongside other
distinguished leaders from the fields of politics, academia,
business, law, diplomacy and beyond, to uphold and enhance
Fortify Rights’ vision and mission to investigate human
rights violations, engage decision-makers to stop abuses and
atrocities, and strengthen local human rights defenders to
be leaders in their own communities. This grassroots-based
yet internationally-anchored approach is visionary,
inspiring and much needed in the world
today.
Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador
(ret.) and a Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University,
said:
It’s an honor to join this august
Leadership Council at such a critical time for the field of
international justice. The work of Fortify Rights has been
essential in documenting the commission of international
crimes, working creatively with survivors to deliver
justice, and battling the corrosive effects of
impunity.
Membership of the Leadership
Council is entirely voluntary and uncompensated. The current
members are:
- Tan Sri Hamid Albar
— Former Foreign Minister of Malaysia; former ASEAN
Special Envoy - Lord Alton of
Liverpool — Member, U.K. House of
Lords - Kobsak Chutikul — Former
Ambassador and Member of Parliament of
Thailand - Leela Cosgrove — Founder
& CEO, Entrepreneur, Speaker, and
Author - Irwin Cotler — Former
Attorney General and Minister of Justice,
Canada - LizAnn Eisen —
Executive Director of The Elie Wiesel
Foundation - Tyler Giannini —
Clinical Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Co-Director,
International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law
School - Jonathan Gimblett —
Partner, Covington & Burling LLP - Pillkyu
Hwang — Lawyer, GongGam Human Rights Law
Foundation, South Korea - Linda
Karshan — Contemporary
artist - David Kaye — Former U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression,
Clinical Professor of Law, University of California,
Irvine - Kerry Kennedy — President,
Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights
Center - Jung-hoon Lee — Former
South Korean Ambassador-at-Large for Human
Rights - Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC —
British barrister; former lead prosecutor, International
Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia - Saiful Huq Omi —
Award-winning photographer - Tomas Ojea
Quintana — Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights in North Korea and Myanmar; human rights
lawyer, Argentina - Phil Robertson
— Human rights advocate; former Deputy Director, Asia
Division, Human Rights Watch - Thomas
Sadoski — Award-winning film, TV, and stage
actor - Charles Santiago — Former
Member of Parliament, Malaysia; Chair of ASEAN
Parliamentarians for Human Rights - Dr.
Sasa — Founder and President, Institute of Peace
and Federal Democracy; Former Myanmar Special Envoy to the
UN and Union Minister for International Cooperation in
Myanmar’s National Unity Government - Beth Van
Schaack — U.S. Ambassador (ret.), Distinguished
Fellow, Center for Human Rights & International Justice,
Stanford University - Ahmed Shaheed
— Former Foreign Minister, The Maldives; former U.N.
Special Rapporteur - Ellie Shefi —
Author; television and podcast host - Jim
Silk — Professor Emeritus, Yale Law School;
former Director, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human
Rights Clinic - Stephen Smyk
— Former Founder & CEO,
Performance Bridge - Tom Tugendhat
MBE MP — Member of Parliament, UK; former
Minister of State for Security - Lara
Warner — Strategic Advisor and Former Credit
Suisse Executive - Tanya Woods —
Lawyer, Board Director, Chairwoman of the Centre for Global
Good (Project In-Kind) and Kind Village
Fortify
Rights will continue to expand and grow the membership of
the Leadership Council.
Fortify Rights will aim to
ensure that its community-based human rights defenders and
survivor-led perspectives drive every proposed Council
action, anchoring global advocacy in the lived experiences
of those most affected by human rights
violations.
Fortify Rights is an award-winning human
rights organization working to ensure human rights for all.
Working in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Ukraine,
and the U.S., and developing new work on China and North
Korea, its team conducts investigations, engages with
governments and other powerholders, and supports human
rights defenders in bringing laws, policies, and practices
into line with international human rights standards. Its
work has helped expose genocide and mass atrocity crimes,
prevent the forced return of refugees, improve
accountability for human trafficking, and protect at-risk
defenders.
