Mehrangiz Kar, a human rights lawyer from Iran, is an internationally recognized writer, speaker and activist who advocates for the defense of women’s and human rights in Iran and throughout the Islamic world. A common theme in her work is the tension between Iranian law and the core principles of human rights and human dignity. She is also author of the book Crossing the Red Line, and an activist of women's rights in Iran. Born in 1944 at Ahvaz, in southern Iran, she attended the College of Law and Political Science at Teheran University. After graduating, she worked for Sazman-e Ta’min-e Ejtemaii and published over 100 articles on social and political issues.
Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin, she was the first non-white woman judge of the High Court of South Africa, and she has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Her four-year term as High Commissioner for Human Rights began on 1 September 2008 and was extended an additional two years in 2012. She was succeeded in September 2014 by Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad. In April 2015 Pillay became the 16th Commissioner of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.
Shadi Sadr is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Malaysia face severe challenges, prejudices and threats not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sodomy is a crime in the country, with laws strictly enforced. Extrajudicial murders of LGBT people have also occurred in the country. There are no Malaysian laws that protect the LGBT community against discrimination and hate crimes. As such, the LGBT demographic in the country are hard to ascertain due to widespread fears from being ostracised and prosecuted, including violence.
Charles Hector Fernandez is a Malaysian human rights advocate and activist.
Teng Biao is a Chinese lawyer and political activist. He is a lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. He has been a vocal supporter of human rights activists such as Chen Guangcheng and Hu Jia. He has been arrested at least twice, in March 2008 and in February 2011. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School from (2015-16) and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer in Iran. She has represented imprisoned Iranian opposition activists and politicians following the disputed June 2009 Iranian presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi. She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran. Nasrin Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about Sotoudeh's "ongoing battles for the rights of women, children and minorities." In 2021, she was named as of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World. She was released on a medical furlough in July 2021.
Ni Yulan is a civil rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China. She has established herself in defending human rights in China by providing legal aid to persecuted groups such as Falun Gong practitioners and victims of forced eviction.
The 2011 crackdown on dissidents in China refers to the arrest of dozens of mainland Chinese rights lawyers, activists and grassroots agitators in a response to the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests. Since the protests, at least 54 Chinese activists have been arrested or detained by authorities in the biggest crackdown on dissent since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Since the start of the protests in mid-February 2011, human rights groups have claimed that more than 54 people have been arrested by authorities, some of whom have been charged with crimes. Among those arrested are bloggers who criticise the government such as Ai Weiwei, lawyers who pursue cases against the government, and human rights activists.
Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch's Middle East Division, Deputy Secretary General for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), former chairman of CARAM Asia, member of the Advisory Board of the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), and Founding Director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).
Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb is a Saudi poet and a former columnist for the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Bilad. In 2011, he was on a Mabahith watchlist of pro-democracy activists.
Amal Clooney is a Lebanese and British barrister. Notable clients of hers include former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, Iraqi human rights activist Nadia Murad, and the journalists Maria Ressa, and Mohamed Fahmy.
Thulani Rudolf Maseko was a Swazi human rights lawyer who was imprisoned from 2014 to 2015, and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. He launched a court challenge to King Mswati III of Eswatini in 2018 and was assassinated in 2023.
The Tangkap Najib rally was a demonstration held in Kuala Lumpur on 1 August 2015. The peaceful rally was organized by a youth activist group Demi Malaysia to urge for the resignation of Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak ensuing the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans.
Wang Yu is a Chinese human rights lawyer. She was arrested by Chinese authorities in 2015 when China initiated the 709 Crackdown against human rights attorneys. She was charged with inciting subversion of state power which is a serious offense in China carrying a life sentence. She was awarded an International Women of Courage Award in 2021.
Sirikan Charoensiri is a Thai human rights attorney. She works with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) and is one of the legal representatives of the fourteen student activists from the New Democracy Movement (NDM). She has been the subject of harassment and threats from Thai authorities, as well as criminal charges related to her work as a human rights lawyer. She is the first Thai lawyer to have been charged with sedition by the military junta.
Dr. Zahara Nampewo, is a female Ugandan lawyer, human rights activist, and academic. She is the executive director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) at Makerere University School of Law, in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.
Ravi Madasamy, better known as M Ravi, is a Singaporean human rights lawyer and activist. Known for his work as a cause lawyer, he has served as counsel in multiple high-profile court cases in Singapore, many of which have become leading cases in Singaporean constitutional law and Singapore's approach toward capital punishment and LGBT rights.
Nino Lomjaria is a Georgian lawyer and the Public Defender of Georgia from 30 November 2017 to 8 December 2022.
