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We are a team of human rights defenders that believes in the influence of evidence-based research, the power of strategic truth-telling, and the importance of working with individuals, communities, and movements pushing for change.

How do we create change?

We Investigate. We Engage. We Strengthen.

We use an innovative approach to bring laws, policies, and practices in line with human rights standards. When we investigate violations, engage people with power, and strengthen human rights defenders, change is possible.

We investigate human rights violations

Responding to human rights violations requires an accurate understanding of the facts.

We conduct in-depth, ground-breaking research into human rights violations and support survivors, eyewitnesses, and others to contribute to the fact-finding process.

We rely on the human rights framework to analyze the evidence and produce publications detailing our findings and recommendations for solutions. Our publications include reports and news releases, private submissions, joint statements, and multimedia materials.

We engage people with power on solutions

We meet with senior government officials, high-level U.N. representatives, and others to discuss the findings of our evidenced-based research and potential solutions to address human rights concerns.

We also engage the media and public to expand discussion, dialogue, and action on human rights concerns. Our work has received widespread coverage in international, regional, and local media outlets.

We work to strengthen human rights defenders.

We partner with human rights defenders and affected communities to support local-led, collective responses to human rights violations.

We facilitate skill and knowledge-building workshops and trainings, expand opportunities for partners to directly engage people with power, and increase protections for human rights defenders at risk.

Fortify Rights through the years…
20
13

Fortify Rights initiates operations in Myanmar in 2013.

20
14

We begin conducting investigations, engaging people with power, and strengthening human rights defenders in Myanmar. Through this innovative approach, we achieved impacts. We publish our first investigation, Policies of Persecution, which had more than one million online file requests, and conduct trainings for human rights defenders in war-torn areas of Myanmar.

20
15

We scale our work to Thailand and expand our work in Myanmar. We produce 28 publications, including four full-length reports. We engage more than 100 people with power, and our work receives coverage in more than 2,400 media articles. We also support a variety of initiatives with partners in Thailand and Myanmar.

2015 Annual Report

20
16

We scale our impacts to Malaysia while continuing our work in Myanmar and Thailand. We produce 64 publications, including five full-length reports. We engage hundreds people with power, and our work receives coverage in more than more than 2,900 media articles. We also facilitate 117 strengthening activities with partners.

2016 Annual Report

20
18

Fortify Rights receives the Roger E. Joseph Prize, an annual award recognizing “exceptional individuals and institutions” for their “lasting contribution to the causes of human rights.” We produce 94 publications, including six full-length reports. We engage more than 110 people with power, and our work receives coverage in more than 2,199 media articles. We also facilitate 80 strengthening activities with partners.

2018 Annual Report

20
21

U.N. Economic and Social Council grants Fortify Rights Special Consultative Status at the U.N.

Fortify Rights Rohingya Media Fellows—Dil Kayas, Omal Khair, and Azimul Hasson—win a prestigious Shorty Award for “Best Work for Immigration and Refugees.” The project is also shortlisted in the category of “Storytelling.”

Fortify Rights wins a 2021 Communitas Award for its Rohingya media fellows program to train and support young Rohingya-refugee photographers in Bangladesh.

2021 Annual Report

20
22

The President of Taiwan and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy awards Fortify Rights the 2022 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, recognizing “courageous individuals and groups who build democracy, stand up for justice, and defend human rights.”

2022 Annual Report

20
23

On October 31, 2023, the Wiener Holocaust Library in London agreed to add to its collection A Chance to Breathe, a photography book by Fortify Rights media fellows that documents the rarely-seen life of Rohingya genocide survivors in Bangladesh’s refugee camps.

A coalition of Rohingya-led organizations present Fortify Rights with the inaugural “Dr. Wakar Uddin Award,” recognizing the organization’s global advocacy with the Rohingya people to raise awareness and action on the ongoing genocide in Myanmar.

Members of Amnesty International-Thailand elect The Fort Director and former Fortify Rights Senior Thailand Human Rights Specialist Puttanee Kangkun to the position Board Chair of the Amnesty International-Thailand’s Board of Directors.

2023 Annual Report

Meet our team
Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn
Human Rights Specialist
Human Rights Specialist
Thanida Piyachot
Human Rights Associate
Human Rights Associate
Zaw Win
Human Rights Specialist
Human Rights Specialist
Chit Seng
Human Rights Associate
Human Rights Associate
Ejaz Min Khant
Human Rights Associate
Human Rights Associate
Sai Arkar
Human Rights Associate
Human Rights Associate
Aliona Kazanska
Human Rights Associate
Human Rights Associate
Anonymous
Multimedia Associate
Multimedia Associate
Moe Aung
Multimedia Associate
Multimedia Associate
Iuri Kato
Senior Visual Design Specialist
Senior Visual Design Specialist
Chutapat Suwansatiean
Visual Design Associate
Visual Design Associate
Sippachai Kunnuwong
Communication Specialist
Communication Specialist
Winter Berry
Communication Associate
Communication Associate
Ruthra Mary Ramachandran
Partnership Specialist
Partnership Specialist
Patrick Phongsathorn
Senior Advocacy Specialist
Senior Advocacy Specialist
Yap Lay Sheng
Human Rights Defender Specialist
Human Rights Defender Specialist
Rattawan Saranyanitikul
Senior Operations Specialist
Senior Operations Specialist
Parinda (Ploy) Khongkhachan
Learning Specialist
Learning Specialist
Kanlayawee Waewklayhong
The Fort Associate
The Fort Associate
Peter Bouckaert
Senior Director
Senior Director
John Quinley III
Director
Director
Puttanee Kangkun
Director
Director
Vanessa Chong
Director
Director
Matthew Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer
Amy Smith
Executive Director
Executive Director
Ken MacLean
Senior Advisor
Senior Advisor
Our Board

The Fortify Rights Governance Board comprises ten members, including: Sanjula Weerasinghe, Amanda Sim, Saman Zarifi, Brian Schmidt, [Anonymous], Mona Fetouh, Nickey Diamond, Amy Smith, and Matthew Smith.

The Fortify Rights Advisory Board comprises six members, including Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; Tomás Ojea Quintana, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea; Tyler Giannini, Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School; Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director of Asia;  Pilkyu Hwang, Executive Director at Gonggam Human Rights Law Foundation; and Thomas Sadoski, acclaimed actor and activist.

Join our team!

We are looking for committed change-makers to join our team.