Rayhan Asat is a leading human rights attorney and Uyghur advocate. Rayhan is selected for Yale University’s a prestigious World Fellow class of 2021 for her commitment to make the world a better place, talent, and inspiring leadership.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and former anti-corruption attorney at a major U.S. law firm, Rayhan specializes in international human rights law and compliance with best business practices. Her legal and policy work centers around enforcing international human rights norms, civil liberties, curtailing forced labor, and promoting corporate accountability. She advised the World Bank Group and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to design Human-Centered Business Integrity Principles. She works with civil society, diplomats, lawmakers, and businesses to address human rights concerns, especially the atrocities in Xinjiang involving her own brother Ekpar Asat. Harvard Law School Professor William P. Alford who worked with Rayhan closely described her as “a person of real courage and integrity."
She has been featured in various media outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, Foreign Policy, CNN, Deutsche Welle, Harvard Law Today, and Al-Jazeera among others. She has testified before the Canadian, British, and Lithuanian Parliaments. Her policy recommendations have been adopted by the US and other Western countries.She is a sought-after speaker at various national and international forums and conferences. She will present at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in June 2021. Rayhan’s writing has also been published in many legal journals, and her opinions have appeared in Foreign Policy, NBC News, The Hill Magazine, and other prominent publications. She is a Senior Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights and is also the founder and president of the American Turkic International Lawyers Association.
While at Harvard Law, she was a teaching fellow and partnered with a leading Harvard Business School professor to teach a course on emerging markets. Rayhan loves mentoring students and young advocates. She serves an advisor to several human rights organizations including the Jewish Movement for Uyghur freedom and Harvard Human Rights Working Group. She has coached American University Washington College of Law’s moot court team for three consecutive years, and she also serves as a mentor with LawWithoutWalls, a multi-disciplinary legal shark tank-style competition.
Rayhan and I are both Senior Fellows at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and I have the honor of working with Rayhan on the Board of Advisers for the Jewish Movement for Uyghur Freedom. We collaborated on several Harvard hosted programs with the Human Rights Foundation and Harvard Law School.
Rayhan is a tireless advocate for her people and the universality of human rights.