Ahmed Tony has served as a public prosecutor since 2013, spending the last two years within the Human Rights Division at the Egyptian Prosecutor General’s Office. Tony has successfully secured human trafficking convictions and played an integral role in developing and implanting policies and trainings on partnership, protection of victims, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of trafficking in persons cases. In addition to Tony’s efforts to enhance the public prosecution’s role in protecting children’s rights in Egypt, he is also a senior member of the Egyptian National Working Group on Children’s Rights. Tony obtained a Ph.D. in criminal law from Cairo University, as well as three master’s degrees, including an LL.M. in international human rights law from Queen Mary University of London and an LL.M. in international business law from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
A. Alvin Winford serves as program manager for the African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Liberia. He has spent over 15 years working in education, social development, and the protection of children and women alongside UNICEF, the United States Department of Labor, the United Nations Development Programme, and IREX. Through these partnerships, Winford has coordinated projects such as Countering Youth through Education (CYCLE) and the Actions to Reduce Child Labor (ARCH). In 2015, Winford worked on a campaign alongside IREX and the US Department of State through the Partnering for Stronger Communities Grants Program in order to provide institutional capacity building for the Community Women Enterprise Network in Kampala, Uganda. Winford is a graduate of the University of Liberia with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Political Science. He is currently an M.A. candidate in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of Liberia.
Luiz Artur Saraiva Filho is a legal advisor at the Court of Justice of the State of Para in Brazil, where he co-leads the Judicial Precedents Management Department. Saraiva additionally serves as a lecturer and conciliator regarding new legal institutes of civil procedure code. He delivers seminars as part of “Access to Justice” programs and prepares drafts of judicial decisions in legal proceedings in his role as the secretary of the Committee of Jurisprudence. Saraiva holds a Bachelor of Laws from Para State University Center, along with a post-graduate diploma in Civil Law from Anhanguera University in Brazil. He formerly served in the District Attorney’s Office from 2005 to 2012 specializing in class actions and legal agreements. As he pursues a future as a prosecutor, Saraiva will continue to focus on alternative dispute resolution and restorative practices.
Asma Sameen Bangash is a lawyer and has served as a legal advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Pakistan for the past three years. She previously served as a fellow at the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, as well as a legislative fellow (LFP) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Sameen worked as a sub-editor for the Express Tribune publishing a number of articles and blog posts regarding social and legal issues in Pakistan. She has attended and participated in a number of international trainings, including the South Asian Teaching Session on International Humanitarian Law in Nepal, ICRC’s institutional training in Thailand, and an international foundation course on the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) in Sanremo, Italy. She was also a participant in the Young Connectors of the Future Program. Sameen holds expertise in International Humanitarian Law and has arranged trainings and delivered lectures on the subject across various universities in Pakistan. Sameen is a graduate of the Law College of the University of Peshawar and is currently enrolled as an advocate with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Daisy Nabasitu is the assistant director of public prosecutions with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) Uganda. She has served as a prosecutor for over 16 years, working as a human rights advocate through the promotion of women and children’s rights. She specializes in prosecuting gender-based violence and environmental cases. She previously headed the domestic violence desk of ODPP and was a member of the task force that developed prosecutorial guidelines for gender-based violence cases in Uganda. Nabasitu is a member of the Uganda National Wildlife Crime Coordination Task Force (NWCCTF) and heads the environment division of the ODPP. She additionally participates in grassroots community outreach sensitization trainings with women and children across Uganda. Nabasitu graduated with a Masters in International Human Rights Law and Public Policy from University College Cork, Ireland, an LL.B. from Makerere University Kampala, as well as a diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Kampala.
Georgiana Grozescu is an assistant magistrate in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Romania. She previously served as program manager, then senior expert at the Center for Legal Resources, an NGO acting at the time as national focal point for FRALEX/FRANET – the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. As a lawyer, Grozescu specialized in children’s rights, domestic violence and civil rights violations. Her experience also includes being a legal researcher for UNICEF and an advisor to Save the Children Romania. She served on working groups to amend Legal Aid Law and Domestic Violence Law. Her experience as a human rights lawyer and NGO advocate have informed her commitment to upholding international standards of human rights through her work in the High Court. Her interests are currently focused on the promotion of rights of vulnerable persons, especially access to justice. She received an M.A. in Child Studies from King’s College School of Law in London, as well as an LL.B. in Law from the University of Bucharest.
Ira Papagjika is a lawyer with over 13 years spent serving in the Public Administration of Albania, most recently holding the position of deputy commissioner within the office of the Albanian Ombudsman where she specializes in children’s rights. Papagjika is responsible for monitoring and inspecting governmental institutions for compliance with standards and obligations stemming from conventions ratified by Albania, producing recommendations and special reports on relevant infringements on human rights by public bodies or institutions. In 2017, Papagjika was awarded a fellowship from the European Fund for the Balkans, and graduated from an intensive program on European Law and Economics from Riga Graduate School of Law. She has completed two master’s degrees in Public Administration and EU Business Law from the University of Tirana, Albania, where she also studied law.
Nikola Mladenovic is an independent advisor for the Anti-Corruption Agency of Serbia, collaborating with state authorities to suppress organized crime, terrorism, and corruption. His expertise is vested in anti-corruption and white-collar crime, and he works closely with the Public Prosecutors Office and the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering to hold those under suspicion of public corruption or bribery accountable. Mladenovic holds a Bachelor of Laws and an LL.M. in Business Law from the University of Belgrade’s School of Law. Additionally, he attended the Public Procurement Training Program at Leiden Law School in the Netherlands, a Tax Counseling Specialization Program at the University of Belgrade, and passed the Bar Exam. As a Humphrey Fellow, Mladenovic is eager to learn about how the U.S. deals with corruption and how they relate to the legal, institutional, and political framework of the Constitution.
Önder Yalçin is the director of the Migration Office at the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality of Turkey. He previously served as founder and coordinator of the Social Research Center at the Municipality. In his role, Yalçin contributes to the development of guidelines for refugee response planning, implements projects to assess and meet the needs of refugee and host communities, and collaborates with national ministries, NGOs, and UN agencies to exchange information. Yalçin received an M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, as well as a B.A. in Social Work from Hacattepe University, Ankara and an English Language Teaching degree from Gaziantep University.
Suphawatchara Malanond has served as the dean of the Faculty of Law Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in Thailand from 2012 until July 2019. He previously served as a member of the Committee on the Reform of Science and Technology for the Council of University Presidents of Thailand. Currently, Malanond is a panelist for the Ethical Committee, Faculty of Medicine (PSU) and Social and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board. He is also the commissioner on the PSU Appellate Board of Grievances and PSU Intellectual Property Policy Board. As a scholar, Malanond has specialized in competition law, law and economics, law and innovation, data privacy law, and consumer protection law. He received an LL.M. in European Business Law from the Aix-Marseille University and European Master in Law and Economic from the University of Bologna and University of Hamburg. He has participated in fellowships with the Japan Patent Office, AUN-KASEAS Exchange Fellowship of South Korea, the Hague Academy of International Law, and the WIPO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property.
Verginia Micheva-Ruseva is a judge at the Sofia City Court in Bulgaria. She has served as a judge for 23 years and in 2008 was appointed to serve as a civil judge with the EULEX Mission in Kosovo. While on the mission, she was appointed as a member of the EULEX Human Rights Review Panel. From 2014-2017, Micheva-Ruseva served as a Deputy Minister of Justice, during which she initiated legislative amendments in the Family Code, Mediation Law, and instituted a new Juvenile Justice Law centered in restorative justice practices. She has expertise in cross-border family disputes and specializes in international child abduction, guardianship, and family cases. Micheva-Ruseva has several legal publications, with the latest on expected amendments to same-sex marriage legislation. She graduated from Sofia University with a Magister in Law.
Jiangang Chen is a trial lawyer with Beijing Qianqi Law Firm. He received his law degree from Shandong University and started practicing law in 2008. For the past seven years, Chen has focused his practice on defending victims of human rights violations in China. His clients include political prisoners, persecuted believers, entrepreneurs, victims of wrongful conviction, and imprisoned fellow human rights lawyers. Like many human rights lawyers in China, Chen has been subject to surveillance, harassment, and threats from the state. As a Humphrey Fellow, Chen is interested in strengthening his knowledge of human rights, in particular learning best practices on documentation of cases of torture. He also plans to study the formation of the American constitution and the judicial institutions of the United States.