Fortify Rights launches Leadership Council spanning five continents
(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.”
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
- 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.