July 10, 2024 | Priyanka Motaparthy, Senior Human Rights Clinic Instructor and Director of the Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict, and Human Rights Project at the Columbia Human Rights Institute takes up a new appointment at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in July. Motaparthy has been appointed as a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Human Rights. 

“Priyanka is a brilliant advocate and clinician, and we offer our heartiest congratulations on her new appointment,” said Professor Sarah Knuckey, the Director of the Human Rights Institute and Clinic. “Priyanka will bring to Northwestern her unwavering commitment to educating the next generation of advocates, and her outstanding skills as a human rights advocate. She is both strategic and deeply thoughtful, and we look forward to seeing her continued impact on human rights education and practice.”

Over the past four years at Columbia Law School, Priyanka has made significant contributions through her leadership of the Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict, and Human Rights Project. She worked closely with civil society in Yemen and Somalia to advocate for the rights of victims harmed by US military operations abroad. She regularly briefed U.S. government officials on how to protect the rights of civilians living in armed conflict, including the rights to accountability and reparation. In coalition with advocacy partners, her work contributed go improving U.S. government policies on responding to civilian harm caused by U.S. military operations, improving investigations of civilian deaths and injuries, and strengthening U.S. interpretation of the laws of armed conflict. She also worked closely with human rights partners to raise specific cases of civilians harmed by U.S. operations, resulting in new recognition of civilian harm caused by U.S. airstrikes in Yemen.

Priyanka also advocated to improve accountability for abuses committed by parties to the ongoing armed conflict in Yemen, including most recently at the U.N. Human Rights Council. 

“Columbia’s Human Rights Institute and Clinic provided an invaluable opportunity to work deeply with human rights advocates in conflict, building strong relationships over many years, while also exposing students to their vital work,” said Priyanka. “This allowed me to achieve measurable impact towards improving the rights of civilians living in armed conflict, building on the deep expertise of our partners and the momentum of our work over time.”

At the Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Institute, Priyanka has supported dozens of clinic students, helping them develop cutting-edge advocacy and research on various human rights issues. She provided invaluable guidance to many students, aiding them in navigating the human rights field at Columbia Law School and beyond.

Priyanka is a graduate of Columbia Law School ’09. Prior to joining the Human Rights Institute, Priyanka was the acting Emergencies Director at Human Rights Watch, where she spent nearly a decade investigating human rights abuses in conflict and crisis situations, including in Syria, Egypt, Myanmar, and South Sudan. 

***

The Human Rights Institute advances international human rights through education, advocacy, fact-finding, research, scholarship, and critical reflection. We work in partnership with advocates, communities, and organizations pushing for social change to develop and strengthen the human rights legal framework and mechanisms, promote justice and accountability for human rights violations, and build and amplify collective power.

Join us on Facebook: Human Rights Institute

Follow us on Twitter: @CLSHumanRights.