Yasmin Sooka

Guest Author

Yasmin Sooka is a South African human rights lawyer and transitional justice expert, with a special interest in sexual and gender-based violence. Sooka was appointed as a Commissioner on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission by former President Mandela and also served as one of three international commissioners on the Truth Commission of Sierra Leone. In July 2010, Yasmin Sooka was appointed to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability for War Crimes in Sri Lanka. In 2015, she sat on the Secretary-General’s Independent Review Panel for Central African Republic, investigating Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Foreign Military Forces there.

She currently chairs the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, and is the Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project on Sri Lanka. She is advisor to the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa on prosecuting apartheid crimes.