Belkis Wille

Belkis Wille is the Yemen and Kuwait researcher with Human Rights Watch. She is responsible for researching abuses and conducting local and international advocacy on human rights issues affecting these countries.

Previously, Wille worked at the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture, leading its Middle East and North Africa work from Tunisia and carrying out advocacy and trainings on torture prevention in Libya. In 2011, Wille was a consultant to the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva. In 2009, she documented alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza. At a London solicitor’s firm, she subsequently helped bring these cases to UK courts under universal jurisdiction.

Wille received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, her graduate diploma in law from City University London, and her LLM in human rights and humanitarian law from the University of Essex. She speaks English, German, French, and Arabic.