Kerim Yildiz

Kerim Yildiz "is the founder and Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, a London-based NGO that supports the rights of all those living in the Kurdish regions of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and the former Soviet Union."

"Yildiz received an award from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights for his services to protect human rights and promote the rule of law in 1996, and in 2005 also received the Sigrid Rausing Trust’s Human Rights award for Leadership in Indigenous and Minority Rights. He has extensive experience in human rights and actively works to raise awareness on human rights violations worldwide; assisting with many cases to the European Court of Human Rights, conducting legal training seminars in Europe and the Kurdish regions, and regularly contributing to seminars and conferences.  Yildiz has also written extensively on human rights including numerous essays, articles and chapters on freedom of expression, national security, torture and minority rights published in English, Turkish, Finnish and Russian. His most recent publications include ‘Turkey’s Accession to the EU: Democracy, Human Rights and the Kurds’ (Pluto Press, 2005),  ‘The Kurds in Syria: The Forgotten People’ (Pluto Press, 2005), 'The Kurds in Iraq: Past, Present and Future - Revised Edition' (Pluto Press, 2007), 'The Kurds in Iran: Past Present and Future' (Pluto Press, 2007, with Tanyel Taysi) and 'An Ongoing Practice: Torture in Turkey' (KHRP, 2007, with Frederick Piggott). He is also a Board member of other human rights and environmental organisations, serving as the Board Chair of the Gateway trust, advisor to the Delfina Foundation and member of Kurdish Pen."