Law and Peace Practice Group /

Hanny Megally

Hanny Megally is a Senior Fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), where he focuses on violent extremism, human rights and rule of law. Prior to joining CIC, Megally served as  Chief of the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Branch at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. 

Previously, he was Vice-President for Programs at the International Center for Transitional Justice, which he joined in 2003. He has nearly forty years of experience in the field of human rights, transitional justice and conflict resolution, having begun his professional career at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in 1977. From 1984 to 1994, he headed the Middle East Research Department at Amnesty International in London. He later ran the Ford Foundation’s social justice program in the Middle East from the Foundation’s Cairo office, and from 1997 to 2003 he served as the Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. 

Mr. Megally has overseen country programs and traveled extensively in the MENA and Asia/Pacific regions, including leading human rights investigation missions and conducting high-level discussions with heads of state and governments. He is a widely sought after commentator on human rights and political developments, particularly in the MENA region.