Executive Director
Barrister-at-law
M.A University College London
Director Policy & Advocacy
LLM, Cornell University
LLB, University of London
Research & Policy Officer
Founder, Institute of Responsible AI & Human Rights
Incoming LLM candidate, Harvard Law School
LLB, University of London
Human Rights Officer
LLM, Harvard Law School
LLB, University of London
Senior Research Associate
LLB, University of London
Media and Communications Associate
Research Associate
LLB, University of London
Senior Associate Researcher
LLM, London School of Economics and Political Science
LLB, London School of Economics and Political Science
Program Associate
BBA, Lahore School of Economics
Umar Mahmood Khan
Executive Director & Co-Founder, Barrister-at-law, M.A. University College London
Barrister Umar Mahmood Khan is part of the adjunct faculty at Universal College Lahore since 2008 and has taught Human Rights Law and Jurisprudence & Legal Theory.
Apart from his teaching assignment at UCL, he has over 13 years of professional experience in numerous capacities as an expert, policy adviser and legal practitioner in human rights law and criminal justice sector . He has worked extensively with both government and non-governmental organizations; he has worked with and advised UNDP, UNICEF, BHC/DFID, US Department of Justice, GIZ and other donors in Pakistan as well as the Federal Government of Pakistan and key government departments in KP, Punjab and Sindh.
Moreover, Umar has extensive experience of over 10 years in criminal litigation, training judges, prosecutors, police and other government officials, having trained over 3000 officials including more than 1000 prosecutors in Punjab, KP and Sindh. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Centre for Professional Development for prosecutors and has previously taught at the Punjab Judicial Academy.
Sevim Saadat
Human Rights Officer, Clinical Lecturer & Co-Founder, LL.M Cornell University
Sevim has been part of the adjunct faculty at Universal College Lahore since 2016. Currently she is a co-lecturer for International Protection of Human Rights and a Clinical Professor at the Human Rights Centre.
Sevim has worked primarily in human rights and public policy. Currently working as Director Programs at Musawi, she has worked on several projects dealing with legal and policy reform. She provided technical assistance for the review of pending bills in the National Assembly in 2016, including the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill, Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill and Acid and Burn Crime Bill. She is leading the Gender-based violence project at Musawi, which aims to identify the challenges faced by the Criminal Justice System of Pakistan in providing redress to rape victims including juveniles, and investigate the problems in the medico-legal practices prevalent in Pakistan.
Sevim has developed the legal writing and legal clinic curricula with local partner schools and provided training in research and teaching methodology to Professors at various institutions under the Arizona State University’s Legal Education Support Program in Pakistan. Previously, she worked as a fellow at the Centre from 2016-2017, during which time she pursued a short clerkship with a sitting High Court Judge in Lahore.
Uzma Nazir Chaudhry
Research & Policy Officer
Founder, Institute for Responsible AI & Human Rights, LL.B University of London
Uzma is a recent law school graduate with a passion to find new and innovative ways to work within the legal and justice system of Pakistan. She has been a part of the adjunct faculty at Universal College Lahore for Jurisprudence & Legal Theory and Equity & Trusts, and has also jointly taught at the Human Rights Clinic, since October 2019. She is also the Founder of the Centre’s new research division, Institute for Responsible Artificial Intelligence & Human Rights, where her current work is focused on algorithmic unfairness and the right to equality.
Uzma previously practised intellectual property law at a leading IP law firm in Lahore. Uzma first became affiliated with the Centre as a student. She served as an Assistant Editor for the Human Rights Review and her scholarship was published in Volume V of the Review. As a student, she also worked as a Clinic Intern at the Human Rights Clinic and researched on the Economic Impact of Gender Based Violence in Pakistan. After graduating, Uzma took up the role of Clinic Associate where she supervised the thematic area of Gender Justice and also expanded the Centre’s research focus towards Climate Justice, an area that she continues to lead at the Centre. She has also led the Centre’s first 16 Days of Activism campaign since 2019.
Uzma has also worked on other areas of human rights previously. She has provided research assistance to the Commission on Human Rights, Philippines on Global Climate Justice and to Musawi on Transitional Justice in FATA post-25th Amendment. Moreover, she also served as Pakistan Contributor for the project “Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation”; a project of the Commonwealth Lawyer’s Association.
Fatima Mehmood
LL.M Harvard Law School
Human Rights Officer
Fatima Mehmood is a Human Rights Officer at the Centre for Human Rights. She is also a Lecturer for Public International Law and Jurisprudence and Legal Theory for the University of London International Programme taught at Universal College Lahore. Fatima also serves as a Contributor for Pakistan’s country report as part of the Lex-Atlas: Covid 19 – global academic project mapping legal and regulatory responses to Covid-19, developed by University College London, King’s College London and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.
Fatima completed her LLB (Hons) from University of London International Programme with a First Class Honors (2018), and obtained a Masters of Law (2020) from Harvard Law School, where she specialized in international law and human rights. Fatima has worked as a Research Assistant to the Harvard Law School Programme on International Law and Armed Conflict where she worked on a project led by the Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations in collaboration with Spain, Estonia, Belgium on the application of the Rome Statute to cyberwarfare. Fatima has also served as Assistant Editor for the University College Lahore Human Rights Journal from 2015-2018. Her scholarship and work have been published by the University College Human Rights Journal, Research Society of International Law Review, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Human Rights Watch. She has researched and written on child sexual abuse legislation in Pakistan, constitutionalizing the right to health in Pakistan, the extraterritoriality of the nonrefoulement obligation in the Refugee Convention, analysis on the upcoming political declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and the condition of jails and prisoners in Pakistan.
Ali Imtinan
Research Associate
Ali Imtinan is the Human Rights Research Associate at the Centre for Human Rights. He completed his LL.B. from the University of London (International Programme) and has been an Associate at a youth-led public policy think tank, where he worked on issues relating to access to justice, due process, and the rule of law. Ali has previously researched on the deleterious effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on criminal justice systems across the Indian subcontinent, as well as the health risk faced by prisoners. He has also assisted with research on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, reviewing the legislative and policy developments that have contributed to the closing civic space in South Asia. In addition, Ali has experience of working at a commercial law firm, where he advised private companies regarding compliance with State regulatory rules and provisions, and also rendered assistance on cases pertaining to judicial review of administrative action.