Human Rights First Explained

Human Rights First
Leader Title:	President/CEO
Leader Name:	Michael Breen (human rights activist)
Leader Title2:	Former President
Leader Name2:	Michael Posner
Headquarters:	New York, New York
Formation:	1978

Human Rights First (formerly known as the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights^[1]) is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3),^[2] international human rights organization based in New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.^[3] Its work centers on four main issue areas: authoritarianism, extremism, systemic injustice and the abuse of technology. It closely works with lawyers, veterans and security experts, technologists, and allied advocates to further its policy agenda. In 2004, it launched an "End Torture Now" campaign.^[4] The organization also runs the Fighting Discrimination program which focuses on hate crimes.

Board of directors

Human Rights First is governed by a board of directors composed of 92 members, including a 30-person Board of Advocates and a 13-person Emeritus Board.^[5]

Members of the board include:

• Jay Carney, Global Head of Policy and Communications at Airbnb
• Sarah Cleveland, Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights Columbia University Law School
• Ben Jealous, Executive Director of the Sierra Club
• Kerry Kennedy, President of RFK Human Rights
• Robert A. Mandell, former Ambassador to Luxembourg; Chairman and CEO of Greater Properties, Inc. (Ret.)
• Carlos Pascual, Senior Vice President at IHS Markit
• Nazanin Rafsanjani, former head of New Show Development at Gimlet Media and Spotify^[6]
• Mona Sutphen, Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group

Selected publications

• The War Against Children: South Africa’s Youngest Victims, Desmond Tutu, 1986.
• Vigilantes in the Philippines: A Threat to Democratic Rule, Diane Orentlicher, 1988.
• Refuge Denied: Problems in the Protection of Vietnamese and Cambodians in Thailand and the Admission of Indochinese Refugees into the United States, Albert Santoli, 1989.
• Paper Laws, Steel Bayonets: Breakdown of the Rule of Law in Haiti, Elliot Schrage, 1990.
• Childhood Abducted: Children Cutting Sugar Cane in the Dominican Republic, Theresa A. Amato, 1991.

External links

• Interview with Michael Posner from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Interview with Tad Stahnke from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Notes and References

1. IRS Form 1023 Application for Recognition of Exemption. (1982). Human Rights First website Retrieved 2 December 2018.
2. Web site: Human Rights First. 2021-04-21. www.charitywatch.org. en.
3. https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/about About Us
4. Web site: Human Rights First Leader to Speak. 2021-04-23. today.duke.edu. 14 March 2007 . en.
5. Web site: Board Archives . 2023-02-14 . Human Rights First . en-US.
6. Web site: Oprysko. Caitlin. FARA chief leaves DOJ. 2021-05-17. POLITICO. en.