Martin Ennals Award Patrons

Leandro O. Despouy

Leandro Despouy is President of the Auditoría General de la Nación in Argentina. As a young lawyer he was forced to flee the military dictatorship, but - as a refugee in France - he continued to work on human rights, in particular in Uruguay and Paraguay. Upon return he started a career as diplomat and representative in international human rights fora (he chaired both the Commission on Human Rights and its Sub-commission). He has provided academic and operational expertise in human rights and humanitarian law to a variety of international organisations. He is currently the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.