“We need to pursue peace even when we are grossly provoked; in the end, people die, not Catholics or Hindus or Muslims.”
-YASMIN SOOKA

Yasmin Sooka is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) in South Africa. Widely recognized as an expert in the field of transitional justice and gender, Ms. Sooka is a human rights lawyer who focuses on the legacy of Apartheid – specifically as it relates to issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS and gender. She also works with poor South African communities to secure and protect constitutional rights.

Ms. Sooka received her legal degree from the University of Witwatersrand, where her studies emphasized human rights law. After qualifying as a lawyer, she joined a law firm in South Africa and practiced human rights law until 1995.

Ms. Sooka has an established track record in the field of international human rights. From 1995 to 2002, Ms. Sooka served as the Chair of the Legal Sub-Committee of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). During this time she also served as an executive member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, as well as an acting Judge of the Witwatersrand High Court. In 2002, Ms. Sooka was appointed as Commissioner of the South African TRC, and served as acting Chair of the Human Rights Violation Committee. In that capacity, Ms Sooka co-authored the Final TRC Report for South Africa. Two years later, she was selected as Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sierra Leone.

Ms. Sooka was recently appointed by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General to the United Nations, to serve on a Panel of Experts that will advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka.

In addition, Ms. Sooka regularly consults government institutions, international agencies, commissions, as well as organizations in the nonprofit sector that focus on transitional justice and peace-building. She is a trustee of the Centre for Conflict Resolution and the Black Sash Trust, and currently chairs the steering committee for South Africa’s Action Plan to address racism, racial intolerance, xenophobia and other related intolerance.