International Fellows Alumni

Judge Tidjani-Serpos is an Examining Magistrate for the Ministry of Justice in the Tribunal division in Abomey-Calavi, Benin. His primary areas of responsibility include the investigation of criminal cases, managing the pretrial affairs, and working in coordination with the prosecutor and the police in order to solve cases efficiently. Judge Tidjani-Serpos received a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Jean Moulin University in Lyons, France, prior to which he received three degrees from universities in Benin in the fields of law and international relations. Judge Tidjani-Serpos has written multiple honors theses on the subjects of criminal deterrence and international crimes. During his Humphrey year, he plans to research justice mechanisms that deter crime while increasing respect for human rights. Judge Tidjani-Serpos hopes to apply what he learns to his work as a Magistrate in Benin to assist in deterring cyber-crimes, the drug trade, weapons trafficking, and murder.

Mr. Thiruppathi Venkatasamy is the Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the Government of India in New Delhi. He has been a civil servant since 2000 and has worked for the Indian Audit and Account Service where he has also conducted different types of audits. In his current assignment, he works on different proposals for the implementation of programs to improve the health care system in his country. During his fellowship year, he will pursue a Master of Public Affairs degree.

Mrs Mamta Verma belongs to the Indian Administrative Service, Gujarat cadre. She is presently posted as Special Commissioner, Commercial Tax in the State Government of Gujarat, India. She plays a leading role in State tax revenue collection  by  implementation of Value Added Tax Act. She acquired  expertise in the area of  Town Planning & Urban infrastructure development during her assignment as  Chief Executive Authority of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority and as Director of Municipal Administration for all urban areas in the state. She has served in various capacities for over 17 years in public service as Collector & District Magistrate, District Development Officer and as Additional Commissioner, Industries in the State. She earned her Master of  Psychology  degree from Kanpur University, India. During her fellowship year, Mrs Verma will pursue a Master of Public Affairs.

Captain Wangdi is the Officer in Charge of the Women and Child Protection Unit (WCPU) of the Royal Bhutan Police based in the capital city of Thimphu. In his position with the WCPU, he works closely with the National Commission for Women and Children, as well as the local NGO, Respect Educate Nurture Empower Women. He focuses on crimes against women and children, including domestic violence, and trafficking in persons, overseeing more than 600 cases each year. He was involved in the drafting of the Bhutanese Domestic Violence Prevention Bill and was a member of the core working group of the Child Mapping Assessment carried out by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the National Commission for Women and Children. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Social Science from the Indian National Defense Academy and a Diploma in Military Studies from the Indian Military Academy. During his Humphrey year, he hopes to focus on the prevention of trafficking in persons, an emerging issue in Bhutan, as well as on women’s and children’s rights. Upon returning to Bhutan, he plans to use this knowledge to spearhead the creation of additional Women and Child Protection Units within the Royal Bhutan Police.

Mr. Aguinaldo is a Regional Trial Court Judge for the City of Muntinlupa in the Philippines. He also serves as professor and bar reviewer in the Faculty of Civil Law at the University of Santo Tomas, lecturing on family law, evidence, and legal ethics. He is also a part-time lecturer at the College of Law of Lyceum University of the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Law Center in its Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Program for criminal law and procedure, the Department of Justice, and the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court for trafficking, violence against women and children, and child abuse. Mr. Aguinaldo holds a Bachelor of Law degree and Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. As a new Humphrey Fellow, he would like to design a Bench Book that simplifies the intricacies of investigation and court procedures so that dispensers of justice would be able to understand the concept of human trafficking without arbitrariness and inconsistencies in their actions and rulings.

Mr. Aneme is an Assistant Professor of Law at the School of Law of Addis Ababa University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to joining the Humphrey Fellowship Program, Mr. Aneme served as the head of the Center for Human Rights Studies at Addis Ababa University, where he was responsible for running the academic programs of the Center, developing the Center’s research policy and administering the Center’s Legal Aid Project focused on the indigent, the largest such project in Ethiopia spreading to three regional towns. One of his important projects at the Center for Human Rights was launching the first ever Ethiopian Journal of Human Rights as an interdisciplinary and bi-annual publication. Mr. Aneme received his Ph.D. and M.A. in African Union Law and Human Rights Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo in Norway and his Bachelor of Law from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. As a Humphrey Fellow, Mr. Aneme would like to expand his practical and conceptual knowledge on legal aid and access to justice in the Ethiopian context and to continue his research on the relationship between the right to food and foreign direct investment in large scale agricultural lands in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Meryam Annouz is the financial magistrate in the Court of Accounts of Morocco. She serves within the First Chamber in Rabat. As a financial judge and a public auditor, Dr. Annouz performs a double control: Jurisdiction control and management control based on the evaluation of results and performance. She holds a doctorate in public law and public administration from the University of Law, Economic and Social Sciences of FES (Morocco), a master degree in administrative law and administrative sciences and a bachelor’s in political science as well as several diplomas and internship certificates from Morocco and France in the areas of public administration and public sector reform. Through the Humphrey Fellowship Program, Dr. Annouz wants to enhance her leadership capacity as well as pursue her research in the areas of decentralization, democracy, and good governance at the local, national and international levels.

Mr. Jeyhun Atayev is a Projects Director with the National Chapter of Transparency International in Azerbaijan where he works to shape government policy toward increased transparency, particularly the transparency of government communications, which he sees as a way to ensure accountability and reduce corruption in his country. He earned a master degree in Oriental studies from Baku State University and a certificate in political studies from the School of Political Studies (Strasbourg, France). During his fellowship year, Mr. Atayev will focus on NGO management, public and media relations, communications strategies, NGO-government partnerships and human resources management pertaining to the civil service selection process.

Mr. Bhawra is an Additional Director General of Police, serving under the Crime Investigation division for the Government of Punjab in India. His primary areas of responsibility include supervising, planning, policy-making, and organizing and coordinating in all spheres of criminal investigation matters including dealing with problems of illegal migration and human trafficking. Mr. Bhawra holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights from Pondicherry University in India. As a new Humphrey Fellow, he would like to pursue a composite program comprised of academic modules, seminars, visits to affected areas, interactions with stakeholders, and an internship with a professional organization active in tackling human smuggling and illegal migration. He is interested in crafting a set of recommendations to tackle the problem of human smuggling and illegal migration more effectively in India and abroad.

Ms. Bouity is an Assistant Director in charge of International Conventions at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Republic of Congo. Her responsibilities are to elaborate, examine, and suggest drafts of projects pertaining to the improvement of diplomatic relations that Congo has established with other international partners. She also served as Chief of Public Relations and Legal Adviser on women’s and children’s rights at the Republic of Congo’s Women’s Legal Association for almost eleven years and, in this capacity, has assisted widows, orphans, and victims of domestic violence. Ms. Bouity holds a Master’s degree in Private Law from Marien Ngouabi University in the Republic of Congo. She is interested in furthering her knowledge in human rights both in an academic setting and in professional exchanges. Ms. Bouity believes acquiring additional skills in the realm of human rights will help to enhance her effectiveness working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Congo’s Women’s Legal Association.

Mr. Jose Miguel Angel Buere Villegas, earned his bachelor degree in law from the ITESO University (Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico). He has almost 11 years of experience as a Legal Director in the public sector and he worked previously as a Legal Director for the business entrepreneurs union, Coparmex Jalisco. He is a volunteer for the nongovernmental agency Support of Indigenous Migrants (EAMI),w which promotes cultural rights of the Mixtecan Community. He recently became involved in environmental and health studies concerning pollution of the Santiago River and he works with international organizations to coordinate efforts and experience to address issues of health, water access and economic social and cultural rights.Mr. Buere has special interest in promoting economic, social and cultural human rights between public officials through education and civil activism.

Mr. Samuel Coker is a Human Resource Manager with the Corporate Directorate in the Sierra Leone civil service. His main duties include developing drafts for policy recommendations on corporate issues, developing implementation strategies for new policies and providing periodic monitoring reports on the implementation of civil service policies in the government ministries and departments for policy evaluation and effectiveness. He received a master degree in public administration from the Institute of Public Administration and Management at the University of Sierra Leone and a bachelor degree in politics and history from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. During his fellowship year, Mr. Coker will focus on public policy formulation and analysis, and human resources management and development.

Ms. Davjayev holds a law degree from Ulaanbaatar Erdem Law University. She is an anti-trafficking expert and author. During her Humphrey year, she wants to focus on the protection of victims of trafficking and on women’s issues in relation to trafficking and organized crime. She is Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Development in Ulaanbaatar, and previously served as the Human Trafficking Prevention Program Coordinator working on strategic litigation for anti-trafficking and a labor trafficking project. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Davjayev worked for the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women in Bangkok, Thailand, as an Information Officer, and from 2004 to 2005, she worked for the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) as research assistant to the Programme for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Rights-based Approach to Development in Bangkok, Thailand. She hopes to work with the ABA’s rule of law project during her Humphrey Fellowship year. In the future, she intends to start an NGO focused on the protection of victims of any sort of crime.

Ms. Daytec holds a master’s degree in law, with a human rights concentration, from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, as well as three prior degrees from Filipino institutions: a law degree from the University of the Cordilleras; a master’s degree in management from the University of the Philippines; and, a bachelor’s degree in communications from St. Louis University, where she is currently an Associate Professor. A human rights lawyer, she is an expert in Indigenous Peoples’ issues. She served as the Research and Litigation Officer and as a Trustee for the Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Center in Baguio, and as Director of the Cordillera Executive Board. She is interested in a human rights-based approach to development, so that the benefits of economic development can reach all sectors of the population, including Indigenous Peoples. During her Humphrey year, she hopes to interact with U.S. Indigenous communities who have been successful in harnessing economic development for the benefit of Native Americans. She is a co-founder of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and is a published poet.

Mr. Farrag works as a judge in the Damanhur Primary Court in Egypt and as a part time lecturer of human rights courses at the Arab Academy for Sciences, Technology and Maritime Transportation. He also worked as a public prosecutor, legal researcher, and lawyer in Alexandria, Egypt. Mr. Farrag holds a L.L.M. degree in Litigation Logistics from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt and a L.L.B. degree in law from Alexandria University. By participating in the Humphrey Fellowship Program, he wishes to enhance his professional capabilities and widen his knowledge of human rights studies to benefit his career as a judge. He believes human rights have a very close connection with his profession as a judge and lecturer. He would like to publish a book on this subject. He also plans to complete his Ph.D. in Human Rights.

Dr. Ada Gallegos is the president of the National Interuniversity Commission for Education on Sustainability Development for the National Assembly of Chancellors of Peru, and Director for South America on the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions for the UNESCO Regional Centers of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development. Dr. Gallegos has held various leadership positions in public management with the government of Peru and has been the advisor to the Minister of Education. During the last 12 years she has promoted cooperation and coordination on initiatives benefitting national education among the national government, the private sector, non-profit organizations and universities. In addition, she is a professor and researcher. She holds a doctorate in government and public policy, a master degree in public administration, and a bachelor degree in education. During her fellowship year Dr. Gallegos will focus on management of public policy and leadership in the interests of good governance, sustainability, development and women’s rights within Latin America.

Mr. Andrew Gordon has been a UK civil servant since 1997 and is currently the Head of the Enforcementand Compliance Secretariat in HM Revenue and Customs. He has held various posts in HM Revenue & Customs and the Treasury including Private Secretary to a government minister, head of Freedom of Information policy and leading the development of channel strategy for individual customers. Andrew attended St. Andrews University from 1989-1993 and was awarded a master (Honors) in Economics and Modern History. He has continued formal study since leaving university, achieving an Extra Mural Certificate (Distinction) in Ecology and Conservation at Birkbeck College, London. During his time in Minnesota as a Fulbright scholar, Andrew will study how to increase transparency of the tax system; the effect this has on individual perceptions of tax and the role government plays in society; and whether this impacts levels of citizen participation in the policy making process.

Mr. Rakesh Goyal is currently a Director in Central Vigilance Commission, Government of India. He has worked professionally for 18 years. Of that time, four years was spent in the Central Vigilance Commission looking after corruption cases in the government department and creating systematic improvement for increasing transparency and accountability in public functioning. He also worked for ten years in the Power sector, advising the Government of India on overall development of the Indian Power sector and has spent another four years in the manufacturing industry. He earned his Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India and was the winner of the National Talent Search Examination Scholarship, a national-level scholarship program in India that identifies and recognizes students with extremely high intellect and academic talent. During his fellowship year, he will focus on studying transparency and ethics in public dealing as well as effective implementation of public policy as a tool to avoid leakages of government funds.

Mr. Kaunda is the Director of the Malawi Human Rights Resource Center (MHRRC). He is also a part-time Commissioner of the Malawi Human Rights Commission and has worked on a Human Rights training manual for Malawi police. Mr. Kaunda holds a master’s degree in International Human Rights law from Essex University in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Malawi. He was awarded the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Chevening Fellowship, which enabled him to do his master’s studies in the United Kingdom. He has worked for 15 years in legal and human rights advocacy and earned a Guest Researcher Fellowship at the Danish Institute for Human Rights (Denmark), where he worked from August 2011 to December 2011. In his Humphrey Fellowship year, he would like to do research on the topic of “Reconciling Informal Justice Systems and Human Rights Law: A Comparative Analysis of Malawi’s Search for Solutions and other International Informal Justice Systems.” He has interests in studying American Indian Tribal Courts and Laws. His motto is “bringing justice to every situation of injustice.”

Mr. Narinder Khajuria is a Civil Servant and presently posted as Deputy Secretary to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (India), where he is providing staff support to the Governor in discharging education, executive, judicial and legislative functions of the State. During his 16 year career in public service, he has done a commendable job in the field of land survey/mapping, GIS and land records modernization, agrarian reforms and relations, disaster management, and the public grievance redressal system. Additionally, he has also played a key role during several elections in the largest democracy of the world. He is committed towards the delivery of a more citizen-centric and friendly service at the doorstep of the people. He holds a master degree in Business Administration and Bachelor in Science in Forestry. During his fellowship year, Mr.Khajuria will pursue a master of Public Affairs.