Sarah Knuckey

Founding Editor

Sarah Knuckey (@SarahKnuckey) is an international human rights lawyer and associate clinical professor of law at Columbia Law School, where she directs the Human Rights Clinic and co-directs the Human Rights Institute. She was a Special Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions from 2007 to 2016. She has carried out fact-finding missions and reported on human rights and humanitarian law violations around the world, including in Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.  Her investigations and legal and policy work address unlawful killings, armed conflict, sexual violence, corporate abuses, and assembly/expression rights.  She has been an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law, and previously directed the Project on Extrajudicial Executions, and the Initiative on Human Rights Fact Finding, at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (NYU).

Areas of Expertise: International Human Rights, Extrajudicial Executions, Humanitarian Law, Armed Conflict, Sexual Violence, Drones

Selected Media Appearances
Radio
Drones: warfare in the 21st century – Radio National (Rear Vision)

Online

U.S. drone strikes may constitute war crimes – Salon
8-Year-Old Girl on Drones: ‘When They Fly Overhead I Wonder, Will I Be Next?’ – The Atlantic
‘Terminator’ on hold? Debate to stop killer robots takes global stage – NBC News
Why Drones Are Just a Sideshow – Esquire
Obama praised for releasing kill list memo but rights groups call for more – The Guardian
U.N. Panel to Investigate Rise in Drone Strikes – New York Times

Articles by this author:

Mass Graves in Ukraine Should Be Treated as Crime Scenes – and Urgently Secured

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Apr 6th, 2022

Масові поховання в Україні слід розглядати як місце скоєння злочину – і терміново убезпечувати

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Apr 6th, 2022

An Exercise in Doublespeak: Pompeo’s Flawed “Unalienable Rights” Commission

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Jul 29th, 2020

Advancing Rights and Justice During a Pandemic: An Online Event Series

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May 27th, 2020

Pompeo’s “Rights Commission” Is Worse Than Feared: 7 Concerns to Watch

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Apr 16th, 2020

Pompeo’s “Rights Commission” is Worse Than Feared: Part I

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Mar 13th, 2020

Trump’s “Unalienable Rights” Commission Likely to Promote Anti-Rights Agenda 

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Jul 9th, 2019

10 Priorities for Peace, Human Rights and Justice in Yemen: An Important Joint Statement From Country’s Civil Society

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Oct 24th, 2018

Justice Dept Must Open Criminal Investigation Into Potential War Crimes by U.S. Mercenaries in Yemen

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Oct 16th, 2018

New UN Report Says All Parties to Yemen Conflict May be Responsible for War Crimes

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Sep 7th, 2018

Just Security Authors and Yemeni Human Rights Leaders Detained–now Released–by Saudi-Led Forces

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Jun 18th, 2018

“Resources for Resilience”: New Site Launched to Promote Resilience & Mental Health in the Human Rights Field  

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Jun 8th, 2018

Academics and NGOs Call on Celebrities and Business Leaders to Condemn Saudi Abuses in Yemen

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May 24th, 2018

Time to Dust Off the War Crimes Act?–for an American ex-soldier now in command of UAE forces

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May 9th, 2018

New Series: Perspectives from Impacted Countries

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Mar 19th, 2018

Yemen Strike Raises Questions About Whether the US Follows Its Own Drone Rules

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Nov 15th, 2017

Yemeni Civil Society Leaders Condemn Saudi Blockade

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Nov 10th, 2017

Six Reasons Why the US and Other States Should Support an Independent, International Inquiry on Yemen

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Sep 26th, 2017

Global Group of Civil Society Organizations Raise Concerns about U.S.-led Drone Export Initiative

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Sep 14th, 2017

Nikki Haley is Wrong to Boast About Peacekeeper Budget Cuts: A View From the Central African Republic

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Jul 20th, 2017

Pentagon Admits Major Investigation Flaw: They Rarely Talk to Air Strike Witnesses or Victims

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Jun 29th, 2017

Yemeni Human Rights Activist Radhya Al-Mutawakel’s Speech to the UN Security Council

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May 31st, 2017

Civil Liberties and Human Rights Groups Urge Ambassadors on the UN Security Council to Support Yemeni Civil Society

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May 10th, 2017

The Good and Bad in the US Government’s Civilian Casualties Announcement

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Jul 2nd, 2016

US Government Concludes no “War Crimes” in Kunduz Strike, But Fails to Explain Why

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Apr 29th, 2016

Amid Calls for UN Investigation Into Kunduz Strike, US Senator Suggests that the UN Does Not Investigate Taliban Abuses. He’s Wrong.

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Oct 6th, 2015

The UN Human Rights Council Supports Yemen’s “National Inquiry,” but Is It a Whitewash in the Making?

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Oct 2nd, 2015

We Need a Full, Transparent Review of the US Targeted Killing Program

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May 4th, 2015

Ten More Strikes the Obama Administration Should Immediately Acknowledge and Investigate

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Apr 28th, 2015

Three Quick Thoughts on the Drone Strike in Pakistan That Killed Two Innocent Civilians

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Apr 23rd, 2015

Call for Papers: Columbia’s Human Rights Law Review & Human Rights Institute

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Mar 17th, 2015

Women We Want to See at This Year’s Aspen Security Forum

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Mar 5th, 2015