Gissou Nia
Gissou Nia | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Human rights lawyer |
Gissou Nia is an American-Iranian human rights lawyer and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, where she serves as director of the Strategic Litigation Project, which focuses on accountability and prevention for human rights violations, terrorism, atrocities, and corruption.[1]
In a 2018 interview, Nia said she was born in the United States and described herself as Iranian and Iranian-American.[2] She is a graduate of Rutgers University's Camden School of Law.[3]
Nia began her career at The Hague, where she worked to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.[4][5][6]
She serves as board chair of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center where she aims to promote accountability, human rights and the rule of law in Iran. Since the murder of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, Nia has pursued efforts to hold the Islamic Republic accountable, leading a successful campaign to have Iran removed from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.[7][8]
Since March 2023, Nia has been a founding member and legal advisor to the End Gender Apartheid campaign, an effort to codify the crime of gender apartheid under international law.[9][10][11]
In 2026, Nia said the 2025-2026 Iranian protests are motivated by the Iranian people's desire for regime change.[12]
References
- ^ a b Merelli, Annalisa. "How to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women". Quartz. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ a b Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (8 November 2018). "An Interview with Gissou Nia". In-Sight Publishing. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ "Gissou Nia Joins the Campaign as Deputy Director". 4 November 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ^ "Human Rights, War Crimes Expert Gissou Nia Headlines 'Unfiltered' Tuesday Night". GV Wire. April 24, 2023.
- ^ "What Iranian Protesters Need Now". Slate. September 22, 2022.
- ^ "Gissou Nia: Iranian human rights defender". International Service for Human Rights. 11 December 2014.
- ^ "How to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women". Quartz. November 30, 2022.
- ^ "Gissou Nia". Huffington Post.
- ^ Nia, Gissou (5 October 2023). "Gender apartheid is a horror. Now the United Nations can make it a crime against humanity". Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (8 March 2023). "Campaign calls for gender apartheid to be crime under international law". Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ^ Ashraph, Sareta; Nia, Gissou (5 October 2023). "Why the Crimes Against Humanity Treaty Should Codify Gender Apartheid". Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ^ Northam, Jackie; Simon, Scott (10 January 2026). "Iran enforces a nationwide internet blackout amid escalating anti-government protests". Retrieved 15 February 2026.