She chairs the International Law Association's American branch
Leila Sadat, the James Carr professor of international criminal law at Washington University, has joined eyeWitness to Atrocities’ board of trustees.
Sadat brings her expertise in public international law, international criminal law, human rights, and foreign affairs to the board. She becomes part of an illustrious group that counts former International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, International Bar Association executive director Dr Mark Ellis, ex-South African Constitutional Court judge Richard Goldstone, IBA deputy executive director Tim Hughes, former IBA president David W Rivkin, and retired DLA Piper partner Philip Zeidman as members.
“We are privileged to welcome Professor Sadat to our board of trustees. Her proven commitment to human rights and justice for atrocity crimes will help us advance our mission of promoting accountability through verifiable documentation of mass atrocities and serious human rights violations,” said Carrie Bowker, eyeWitness to Atrocities’ director, in a statement.
In addition to her role at Washington University, Sadat was a senior research scholar at Yale Law School and a Schell Center for Human Rights fellow from 2021 to 2024. From 2013 to 2023, she was the special adviser on crimes against humanity to two ICC prosecutors.
She was appointed a United States expert to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Moscow Mechanism in 2023. She led the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, which developed what the IBA said was the world’s first crimes against humanity treaty; as a result, she received Washington University’s Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Faculty Award in 2017.
Presently, Sadat chairs the International Law Association’s American branch. She is also part of the American Law Institute and the US Council on Foreign Relations.
The eyeWitness to Atrocities organization was launched by the IBA over 10 years ago and is focused on documenting and driving accountability for atrocity crimes. Frontline documenters worldwide use the eyeWitness to Atrocities app to record footage of potential international crimes and major human rights violations. The organization aims to connect documenters with accountability bodies to ensure that footage aligns with standards for use in court.
David J Scheffer and David Tolbert serve as counselors to the board of trustees.
