Lama Fakih
Lama Fakih is Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa director and the director of the Beirut office. Prior to her current role, Fakih was the Director of the Crisis and Conflict Division from October 2019 through February 2022 and the Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division from September 2016 through September 2019. She was a Senior Crisis Advisor in Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program and was Human Rights Watch’s Syria and Lebanon researcher from 2011 to 2015.
Previously, she worked as the Gender, Human Rights, and Counter-Terrorism Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at the New York University School of Law. In 2008 to 2009 she was the Center Fellow at CHRGJ, where she worked on a range of human rights issues including corporate accountability and human rights and counter-terrorism. Additionally, Fakih was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research on the implementation of Islamic law in the Egyptian National Courts.
Fakih holds a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a law degree from New York University, where she was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize for her work in the university’s International Human Rights Clinic. She speaks English and Arabic.
Articles Authored
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January 19, 2015
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September 24, 2014
Dispatches: A Grim Prophesy, an Even Grimmer Reality in Syria
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April 14, 2014
Syrian Government Blocking Aid to Millions of Refugees
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April 2, 2014
Freedom of expression under fire in Lebanon
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March 26, 2014
Syria: Under a Barrel
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January 31, 2014
More Can Be Done to Control Spiraling Violence in Lebanon
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December 13, 2013
Along the Fault Lines
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November 20, 2013
Dispatches: Violence in Beirut Hits Close to Home
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November 5, 2013
The Fading of Syrian Humanity
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August 24, 2013
Dispatches: How Will Lebanon Handle Proxy Violence?