Sara Kayyali

Sara Kayyali (@skayyali1) is the Syria researcher in the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, investigating human rights and international humanitarian law violations in Syria. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, she was the legal analyst at the Syrian Legal Development Programme, where she provided research and capacity-building support on human rights and humanitarian legal issues arising out of the Syrian conflict. Kayyali previously worked with civil society on regional and international advocacy and policymaking around key issues in the Arab region as the Policy and Advocacy program specialist at the Open Society Foundations – Arab Regional Office. She was also a member of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia, where she conducted human rights advocacy and research on the right to housing and civil society engagement with UN Special Procedures. Kayyali holds a double-degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Columbia Law School.