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Biographies of Participants
Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights
"Tolerance and respect: preventing and combating antisemitic
and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe"
01-02 October 2015
Justice
and Consumers
Please note that the biographies were sent by the participants.
ABBAS RAZAWI Syed Ali
Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi is an international scholar, with training in Islamic Sciences and degrees in
History, Comparative Philosophy and Law. Sayed chairs the external-policy wiFreappng of the Shi'a
Council of Scholars Europe, an umbrella organisation for European Shi'a Muslims. He also advises on
policy regarding religion, integration and counter-terrorism. He was one of the cross-denominational
Imams leading a 2014 media campaign against ISIS, publicised on 350+ media outlets worldwide.
He is a trustee of the Maimonides Interfaith Foundation, a representative on the National Council for
Imams and Rabbis, a core member of the Global Covenant of Religions, a committee member in
promoting the UN International Day of Peace, a founder of the Muslim Forum in the British Armed
Forces, the Director General of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society and faculty member for the Cambridge
Coexist Leadership Programme.
ABTAN Benjamin
Benjamin Abtan is the founder and president of EGAM – The European
Grassroots Antiracist Movement. He has been very involved in civil
society activism, in particular as Member of the Board of SOS
Racisme, President of the French Union of Jewish Students (UEJF) or
Co-founder of the "Darfur Urgency" coalition. In the last years, he has
acted as political advisor to former French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and to the
current French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira. In addition, he has been engaged in consulting
activities for international public or private organizations, such as the Caisse des Dépôts et
Consignations or luxury brands. He graduated from Telecom Paris Engineering School and ESSEC
Business School.
ADAMO Chiara
Chiara Adamo is the head of the "Fundamental Rights and
Rights of the Child" unit in the European Commission, DG
Justice, since June 2014. The unit oversees respect and
promotion of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in all EU
measures. Particular attention is also devoted to the EU policy
against racism, xenophobia and all other forms of intolerance,
the dialogue with religions and non-confessional organisations
and the promotion of the rights of the child within the EU.
Between 2009 and May 2014, Chiara Adamo worked as head
of the "Union Citizenship and Free Movement" Unit in DG
Justice.
She studied International and Diplomatic Relations in Gorizia, Italy, and in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.
She specialised in European Law in Rome (ISTUD) and in European Political and Administrative Studies
at the College of Europe, Bruges. Since joining the Commission, in 2000, she has been working in the
Justice and Home Affairs area. Before joining the Commission, she has been working for civil society
organisations and local administrations on cooperation developments, human rights and immigration
issues and wrote several publications in these areas.
ARPELS LEZER Marcus
Max Arpels Lezer, born in 1936, spent the WW2-years in hiding with a
family in the province of Friesland. He is the only survivor of his maternal
family. The last 25 years of his career he was employed by the Netherlands
Credit Insurance Comp.N.V. as manager of domestic and foreign debts
recovery dept. He is still active in the following social groups:
1996: Chairman “The Hidden Child Association of the Netherlands”, 1997-2014: Vice-President World
Federation Jewish Child Survivors o.t. Holocaust”. 2005: President ”European Association Jewish
Survivors o.t. Holocaust”. 2007: Member Board of Directors ”Claims Conference on Jewish Material
Claims against Germany,” inc. 2014: Executive Vice President World Federation Jewish Child Survivors
o.t. Holocaust”. 2007: Arpels Lezer was granted a knighthood in the order of Oranje-Nassou by Queen
Beatrix.
ASADI Shams
Shams Asadi is the Human Rights Commissioner of the City of
Vienna. She has graduated in architecture and urban planning and
has many years of practical experiences. European and
international cooperations are a central focus of Asadi’s career.
ASMUSSEN Dan
Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, Chairman of the Jewish Community in Denmark
since May 2014. Board member 2013-2014. Board of delegates 2011-2013.
Civilian profession: Deputy CEO, Association of Danish Pharmacies
BAKER Andrew
Rabbi Andrew Baker is Director of International Jewish Affairs for the
American Jewish Committee (AJC). In 2009, he was appointed Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism and
continues to serve in this position. He is an officer of the Jewish Claims
Conference and has served on restitution and historical commissions in the
Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. In recognition of his work
in Europe he was decorated by the Presidents of Germany, Lithuania, Latvia
and Romania. He is a past President of the Interfaith Conference of
Washington, a former Commissioner of the District of Columbia Human Rights
Commission, a past President of the Washington Board of Rabbis and a
former chaplain at San Quentin Prison.
BARASZ Johanna
PhD in History, Johanna Barasz worked as a high school teacher in the Paris
area for a few years, before entering the cabinet of the French Minister of
Education, Vincent Peillon 2012-2014), where she was in charge of “societal
issues” (equality policies, education in underprivileged zones, secularism,
moral and civic education, collective memory…).
Johanna Barasz joined the “DILCRA” (Délégation interministérielle à la lutte
contre le racisme et l’antisémitisme) in january 2015 as Advisor for education
matters.
BATISTA João
Diplomat from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Portugal, currently at the
Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union, following Human
Rights, Middle East and the Gulf and United Nations. Degree in European
Studies by the Universidade Moderna, Lisbon, where he took a teaching position
as university assistant before joining the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Postings at
the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mexico. Assumed a position as Head of
Division for South America and the Caribbean at the MFA before being posted at
Buenos Aires.
BAUSSAND Pierre
Pierre Baussand is the Director of Social Platform, the largest civil society
alliance fighting for social justice and participatory democracy in Europe.
Social Platform is committed to the advancement of the principles of equality,
solidarity and non-discrimination. Fundamental rights have been at the core
of Social Platform’s work since its establishment in 1995, and it is currently
pushing for comprehensive EU equal treatment legislation and extended EU
legislation to combat all forms of bias violence through criminal law.Prior to
joining Social Platform, Mr Baussand worked on human rights for the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Disability Forum, and
in the Middle East conducting field research on human rights and migration.
BENTOW Mette
I am married and have 3 children age 14, 13, and 8. All children
attend the Jewish school. I have been an active member of the
Danish Jewish community in the past 16 years. My family were
celebrating my daughter Hannah’s Bat Mizvah on 14 February 2015
at the Copenhagen synagogue, when terrorist attacked the
synagogue. The Jewish security guard Dan Uzan z’l was killed,
while protecting the entrance and two police officers were wounded.
Meanwhile we and the remaining 44 guest, most of them children,
were in hiding in a safe-room and evacuated after 3 hours.
BOTONJIĆ Nermin
Nermin Botonjic - Secretary of Meshihat of Islamic Community in Croatia and
Head of Mufti Cabinet in Croatia. Born in Pula (Croatia) in 1985. Education:
Medresa “dr. Ahmed Smajlović” Zagreb, Faculty of Islamic studies in Sarajevo,
Master's degree in Democracy and Human Rights, Center for interdisciplinary
postgraduate studies of University of Sarajevo. Editor of the “Minber” - official
magazine of Islamic Community in Croatia, research/teaching Assistant on the
Faculty of Philosophy of the Society of Jesus (Zagreb), involved in education
courses (about Islam) of Croatian soldiers participating in NATO peacekeeping/building missions.
Regularly participating in round tables, symposiums and interreligious dialogue process (The world
Conference of Religions for peace, The spirit of Assisi).
BRADEN-GOLAY Jane
Jane Braden-Golay is originally from Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and studied
Religious Studies, Public Law and Education at the University of Zurich. She was
elected vice president of the European Union of Jewish Students and served for
four years in that position. From January 2014 to September 2015, she was the
president of the organization and based in Brussels, Belgium. Her intercultural
activism includes the international Muslim Jewish Conference and “Europe of
Diasporas”, a project bringing together Jewish, Roma and Armenian activists. She
will begin graduate studies at the University of Cambridge in the fall of 2015,
working on educational methods for prevention of extremism.
BUTLER Israel
Israel Butler is an independent researcher and analyst on human
rights and EU affairs. From 2012-2015 he was senior policy analyst
on fundamental rights, justice and home affairs at the Open Society
European Policy Institute in Brussels. Prior to this, he worked for
three years at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
in Vienna as a legal researcher and speechwriter. He holds a
doctorate in International Law and Human Rights and began his
career in academia as a lecturer at Lancaster University covering EU
Law and Human Rights Law.
CAMPBELL Neil
Neil Campbell is Acting Director of the Open Society European
Policy Institute. He is responsible for developing the positions
and profile of the Open Society Foundations on cross-cutting EU
policy issues, and acts as deputy to the director on advocacy
matters. He undertakes analysis and advocacy in the thematic
areas of development, governance, and accountability in areas
relevant to the EU and the Open Society Foundations, and he is
also responsible for advocacy work on EU enlargement towards Turkey and the Western Balkan
countries. He joined the Open Society Foundations in April 2010.
Campbell holds a BA from Durham University and an MA in international studies and diplomacy from
London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies. Before joining the Open Society
Foundations, he was EU advocacy manager and senior research analyst (2003–2010) at the
International Crisis Group, dealing with EU policies on conflict prevention and crisis management, and
managing Crisis Group’s targeted advocacy in Brussels. He has published articles on a range of EU
foreign policy issues and speaks French.
CAZANCIUC Robert Marius
Education:
1995 Graduation from The Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest 1996 Graduation from the National Institute of Magistracy, Bucharest 1998-2004 Participation in various training courses and study visits in France,
Germany and the USA 2009 LLM degree in ”Judicial Security”, ”Lucian Blaga” University, Sibiu,
Romania Career:
1995 – 1998 Prosecutor, Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court of First Instance, Ilfov
1998 – 2000 Prosecutor, Office for Relations with the Media, Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice
2000 - 2001 Spokesperson, Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice
2001 – 2004 General director and, subsequently, Under-state secretary within the Control Body of the Prime-Minister
2004 – 2005 State Secretary within the Department for Program Implementation and Structural Adjustment
2005 Deputy General Director within the National Administration of Penitentiaries
2005 – 2009 Chief Prosecutor of the Office for Relations with the Media, Prosecutor’s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice
2009 – 2012 Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Since 2013 Minister of Justice
Didactic experience:
2007 - 2009 Judicial trainer at the National School of Clerks and the National Institute of Magistracy, Bucharest (teaching ”Communication and public relations”)
Honours and awards:
2001 Judicial Merit Order, 5th class, for the activity conducted in the administration 2011 ”The Emblem the Honor of the Romanian Army” awarded by the Ministry of
Defense for the operations of evicting Romanian and foreign citizens from Libya 2012 Award of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the coordination of the Consular Crisis
Center
ČERIN Boris
Boris Čerin, (C.V.) (and/or - Boris Cherin Levy - as author of SF novel edited in
English), President of Jewish Community of Slovenia. I was born in Maribor,
Slovenia, 02.03.1946, I am Jewish by my mother Mazalta Lilia Levi and Slovene
by my father Dušan Čerin. After high school I enrolled in the study of mathematics
at University of Ljubljana, but prior to enrollment in the third year I interrupted my
studies with the decision to go to the literature, and so, all next years, I worked in
two fields, I worked as a journalist and as a writer. 4 my SF novel were edited, but
my most important literary work is "They Came to Get Me." Novel's subtitle is Battles and Conflicts
between Sensis and Acutins.« The possible continuation of our life in the Universe for the time of our
life and after death is given in reflection. It is also professionally translated into excellent English and
available on the Internet at several addresses and different formats: (PDF, EPUB, MOBI.)
CERF Martine
Martine Cerf led communication companies in France and Belgium,
before becoming General Secretary of the organization EGALE,
Equality, Secularism, Europe (www.egale.eu), whose purpose is the
promotion of equality and secularism in France and Europe. She is a
member of citizen reserves of Education. She co-led The Dictionary
of secularism (Armand Colin, 2011), which received the award of
secular initiative in 2012. She is also co-author of My freedom is secularism (Armand Colin, 2012),
prefaced by Robert Badinter. These books are now recommended by Ministry of National Education.
She is the author of numerous articles on secularism and fundamental rights in magazines or websites.
She designs and delivers training to secularism for children and adults.
COLLINS Evelyn Dr Evelyn Collins CBE has been Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland since March 2000. Evelyn is a law graduate of Sheffield University,
and has Masters’ degrees from University of Toronto (Criminology) and Queen’s
University Belfast (Human Rights and Discrimination Law). In July 2014, the
University of Ulster awarded Evelyn the honorary degree of Doctor of Law (LLD) for
her contribution to the promotion of equality and good relations. Evelyn has worked
on equality issues since the 1980s, mostly in Northern Ireland but also as a
national expert working on gender equality in the European Commission in Brussels. Evelyn is
currently Chair of the Board of Equinet, the European Network of Equality Bodies and a member of
the European Commission’s Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men.
CRESPI Elena
Elena Crespi is heading the Western Europe Programme at FIDH
(International Federation for Human Rights), focusing on human rights
protection and promotion in Europe and coordinating the work that FIDH is
conducting with its member organisations across the continent. She
previously worked as an advocate and legal officer at Amnesty
International's EU office, within the legal department of Italy's Permanent
Representation to the EU and in private law practice. Among her areas of
expertise are economic, social and cultural rights, migration and asylum and
criminal justice.
CUKIERMAN Roger
French, born in 1936 in Paris
Education PHD in Economics BA in law Diploma of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris ESCP, Paris Business School
Business experience
From 1963 to January 1999 with the Edmond de Rothschild
Group. Former CEO of the Edmond de Rothschild Group in
France.
Also former CEO of Israel General Bank.
Former Director of Club Med, Bolloré, PEC New York and many international companies.
Presently, chairman of Soparexo-Chateau Margaux
Publications Author of “The Capital in the Japanese Economy” and of “Ni fiers ni dominateurs” Nonprofit activities President of CRIF (Roof body of French Jewish organisations) Vice-president of the World Jewish Congress Vice-president of the Alliance Israélite Universelle Treasurer of la "Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah"
CUMMISKEY Siobhan
Siobhán Cummiskey is the Policy Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Facebook.
Siobhán and her team write and interpret the policies governing what content people can share on
Facebook, and how advertisers and developers can interact with the site. Siobhán worked as a
private practitioner and human rights lawyer for 5 years before joining Facebook. Prior to this, she
lectured and published in the areas of Human Rights Law and Contract Law. Siobhán serves as co-
chair on the board of directors of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Siobhán has also worked on a
pro bono basis with the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre in London, Vigil India Movement
in Bangalore, the Legal Aid Department of Malawi, the Irish Human Rights Commission and the
International Human Rights Network. She is a qualified lawyer in Ireland and the State of New York
and holds a LL.B. from the University of Dublin, Trinity College and a first class honours LL.M. in
Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham.
DAVIS Jacqueline
Jacki Davis is a leading commentator and analyst on European Union
affairs. She is an experienced journalist, speaker and moderator of high-
level events both in Brussels and in EU national capitals, the editor of many
publications, a regular broadcaster on television and radio news
programmes, and a Senior Adviser to the European Policy Centre think
tank. Jacki has been based in Brussels for 23 years, and was previously
Communications Director of the European Policy Centre; editor-in-chief of
E!Sharp, a magazine on the EU launched in 2001; and launch editor of
European Voice, a Brussels-based weekly newspaper on EU affairs
owned by The Economist Group, from 1995-2000.
DE KERCHOVE Gilles
Mr. Gilles de KERCHOVE was appointed EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator on 19
September 2007. In this function, he coordinates the work of the European Union
in the field of counter-terrorism, maintains an overview of all the instruments at the
Union's disposal, closely monitors the implementation of the EU counter-terrorism
strategy and fosters better communication between the EU and third Countries to
ensure that the Union plays an active role in the fight against terrorism. Before that
he was Director for Justice and Home Affairs at the Council Secretariat .He is also
a European law professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, the Free University
of Brussels and at the Université Saint Louis-Brussels. He was deputy secretary of the convention that
drafted the charter of the fundamental rights of the European Union from 1999 to 2000. He has published
a number of books on European law.
DI LILLO Francesco
Francesco Di Lillo is Head of the European Union Office of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brussels, Belgium. He was appointed in 2013. He
focuses on freedom of religion or belief, humanitarian assistance, volunteerism
and youth. Prior to this assignment, he was Assistant Area Director of Public
Affairs at the Church’s European headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. He holds a
Master’s in Theory of Communications from the University Roma Tre (cum laude)
specializing on the proactive use of media as tools for conflict resolution and
peacebuilding. He also completed a Master in International Relations at the Italian
Society for International Organization (SIOI). Francesco was born in Rome, Italy. He is married to
Emanuela and has four children.
DIENSTBIER Jiri
Minister of the Czech Republic´s Government for Human Rights, Equal
Opportunities and Legislation, Chairman of the Government Legislative Council.
In July 2010 he became the Shadow Minister of Justice for ČSSD. In 2010 he
headed the ČSSD list of candidates for the elections to the Prague City Assembly.
From March 2011 to March 2013 he served as the Vice-Chairman of ČSSD. In
March 2011 he was elected the Senator for the Kladno district. Before becoming
the Minister in January 2014 he served as the Vice-Chairman of the ČSSD Senate
Club, a member of the Legal and Constitutional Committee and Organisation Committee of the Czech
Senate. He was also a member of the Standing Senate Commission on the Czech Constitution and
Parliamentary Procedures. In 2013 he ran for the Office of the President of the Czech Republic. In
January 2014 he was appointed the Minister of Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation and
Chairman of the Government´s Legislative Council in the Government of Prime Minister Bohuslav
Sobotka. In 2014 he was re-elected to the Senate in the Kladno district.
DORAZILOVÁ Zuzana
Zuzana Dorazilová is a policy officer at the European
Commission. She works in the Directorate General for
Justice and Consumers where she is responsible for
financial programmes and training in the area of
fundamental rights. She is currently managing a Holocaust
education project for EU officials. She also worked for three
years as a programme manager of several EU funding
programmes in the area of prevention of and fight against
crime. Before joining the European Commission, she
worked in the law firm Glatzová& Co. in Prague. Her
educational background includes Master degrees in Law and Political Science & European Studies from
the Palacký University in Olomouc and LLM degree in human rights from the Central European
University in Budapest. Zuzana was in charge of the overall coordination of this first Annual Colloquium
on Fundamental Rights.
DOUBAKIL FATIMA
Fatima Doubakil, founder and spokesperson for the Muslim Human
Rights Committee, member of the steering committee for the Swedish
Muslim in Cooperation Network and Diversity Consultant at
Gededucated, Sweden.
EBNER Regina
Gina Ebner is Secretary General of EAEA (European Association for the
Education of Adults). Before that, she worked as a language teaching
assistant in England, a trainer for German and English at different adult
education institutes in Vienna (where she’s from) and as a pedagogical
manager for a vocational training institute in Austria. After moving to Brussels,
she was a project manager at EUROCADRES (Council for European
professional and managerial staff) until changing to EAEA. From 2008 to 2013
she was also president of the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong
Learning (EUCIS LLL).
EISSENS Ronald
Ronald Eissens is Board member and co-founder of the International Network
Against Cyber Hate. (INACH) He has been responsible for national and
international anti-racism and Human Rights projects since 1992. He instituted
the world's first Complaints Bureau for hate on the Internet, created the First
Sailing Internet connection, organized food and medicine transports to the
besieged city of Sarajevo, did live reporting on the antisemitism during the UN
World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, web-casted the name-reading of all Dutch
Jews murdered during the Holocaust and created awareness campaigns on racism, extremism,
antisemitism and Holocaust denial. He has published extensively on the subject of Cyber Hate and is a
regular contributor to the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism.
EL ABBADI Khalissa
Master degree in social and economic political (UCL)
I work since 15 years in integration sector
Head of department « A reception program» newcomers
ELAMRI Lamia
She has Bachelor of Science in Education: Religion and Social Studies,
Tunis 1993. She was Project leader on a study associations “Integrating
and popular education” (2003-2005). She was member of the Municipal
Council of Stockholm (2002-2006).She helped establish several
organizations in Sweden and in Europe: she was a member of the Forum
for Equal Rights / Anti-discrimination office in Kista (2003); she was
member of the Swedish Committee against Islamophobia (2006); she was
Chairwoman of the Muslim Women’s Association (1997-2002). She is a
founder member of the European Forum of Muslim Women and she has
been a Board member of EFOMW since 2006 until now. She works today
as a section manager at the Swedish public employment service.
FAULL Jonathan
Born in the UK in 1954, Jonathan Faull joined the European Commission in 1978,
after law studies at the University of Sussex and the College of Europe (Bruges).
He is currently Director General of the European Commission's Task Force on
the British referendum on EU membership. He spent most of his early
Commission career in the Directorate General of Competition, working his way
up from the starting grade to become Deputy Director General. From 1989 to
1992 he worked in the cabinet (private office) of the competition Commissioner (Leon Brittan). From
1999 to 2003 he was the Commission’s chief press spokesman and Director General of Press and
Communication; from 2003 to 2010 Director General of Justice and Home Affairs and from 2010 to 2015
Director General of Internal Market and Services and then of Financial Stability, Financial Services and
Capital Markets Union. He is the author of many articles on European law and policy and co-editor of a
leading work on European Competition Law, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Emeritus
Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Visiting Fellow at the Policy Institute at King's, King’s College
and a Member of the Research Council of the European University Institute.
FERNANDEZ Claire
Claire Fernandez is the Deputy Director – Policy at the European
Network Against racism (ENAR). Prior to joining ENAR in
February 2013, Claire worked as an independent human rights
consultant. Her previous assignments include leading the Open
Society Foundations’ campaign on the reform of the European
Court of Human Rights and revising the Council of Europe (CoE)
Commissioner for Human Rights’ Report on the human rights of
Roma. Previously, she worked as an adviser to the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights. From 2008
to 2010, she served the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and
Kosovo, advising local authorities on good governance and minorities’ rights. She holds a Master degree
in Human Rights from the Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg (France).
FIELDSEND David
David Fieldsend serves as Attaché to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s
Representative to the EU. He is also a Lay Minister at Holy Trinity
Anglican Pro Cathedral in Brussels. He has been a licensed Reader in the
Church of England since 1982. His gained his first degree in Town &
Country Planning at Newcastle University in the early 1970s. He served
for two years on a Christian aid team in South Sudan and Kenya after
graduation. From 2002 until mid-2014 as the Brussels Representative of
Christian social policy NGO CARE (Christian Action Research &
Education). Between these two periods of charity work he had a professional career in town planning in
the UK including local government, private practice and university teaching.
FISCHER Benjamin
Benjamin Fischer is the incoming president of the European Union of Jewish
Students. He grew up in Berlin, where he graduated from the Jewish Highschool
in 2010 and studied political science in Hamburg. For four years he was a
scholar of the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk, a Jewish scholarship fund
which is gouvernment-funded. From the beginning he was involved in building
up representative structures and served as its elected president. Fischer worked
in Jewish and non-Jewish youth centers and youth movements for more than
nine years. Additionally, he started working as an educator for new youth
leaders in January 2014. As a part time job he gave guided tours through the Synagogues of Hamburg
and hereby tried to deliver a first insight into Judaism for visitors of all age and cultural background.
FOBLETS Marie-Claire
Marie-Claire Foblets, Lic. Iur., Lic. Phil., Ph.D. Anthrop. (Belgium) is professor of
Law at the Universities of Leuven (Louvain in Belgium) and since 2012 also
Director of the Department of ‘Law & Anthropology’ at the Max Planck Institute
for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale (Germany). She has held various visiting
professorships both within and outside Europe. From September 2009 to
November 2010 she was the co-chair of the ‘Assises de l’ Interculturalité’ (The
Round Tables on Interculturalism) in Belgium. Prof. Foblets has conducted
extensive research and published widely on issues of migration law, including
the elaboration of European migration law after the Treaty of Amsterdam, citizenship/nationality laws,
compulsory integration, anti-racism and non-discrimination, etc. In the Field of anthropology of law, her
research focuses on cultural diversity and legal practice, with a particular interest in the application of
Islamic family law in Europe, and more recently in the accommodation of cultural and religious diversity
under State law.
FRANCIS Celine
Dr Céline Francis is an expert in conflict resolution, especially mediation,
and human rights. She has a Ph.D. degree in Political Science from the
VUB. She was involved in fact finding and inquiry missions to the
conflicts in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. She currently works for the
European Federation of the Community of Sant’Egidio where she
represents the work the communities vis-a-vis the European institutions
and coordinates interreligious and interconvictional events. This includes
the national demonstration ‘Together in Peace – Freedom and Respect’
on March 15, 2015, the first event organized by all the official convictions
and beliefs in Belgium which gathered almost 5000 people in the streets
of Brussels in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.
FRIGGIERI David
David Friggieri coordinated the Colloquium's Hate Speech
Panel. He is a Legal and Policy Officer in the Fundamental
Rights Unit within the European Commission's Directorate-
General for Justice and Consumers where he focuses on the
EU's fight against racism and xenophobia as well as freedom
of expression. He studied law, international relations and
European law at the Universities of Malta and Rennes I
(France) and the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium).
FROEHLY Jean Pierre
Since July 2014, Head of the Director's Office and Senior Political Advisor to the
Director of OSCE/ODIHR.
In his capacity as a German career diplomat, previous postings to the German
Embassies in London, Kiev, Vilnius and Moscow, as Deputy head of office of the
Deputy Foreign Minister (Minister of State) in the Federal Foreign Office in
Berlin, and to the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the
OSCE in Vienna. Before joining the German Federal Foreign Service, he had
been a research fellow at the German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP). He studied International
Relations and Law in Germany and France and graduated from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
(Sciences Po).
GALAND Pierre Pierre Galand, President of the European Humanist Federation
Pierre Galand became president of the European Humanist Federation in 2012
after a long career as chair of various development NGOs (Oxfam, CNCD,
CNAPD and more) and as Belgian senatorHe is an economist by training and is
honorary professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. As president of the
Belgian francophone Centre d’Action Laïque from 2007 to 2014, Pierre Galand
has confirmed his commitment to promote humanism and defend secularism in
Europe. He remains president of the Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture
(OMCT-Europe), l’Association belge et la coordination européenne pour la Palestine (ABP et ECCP),
l’Association belge et la coordination européenne de soutien au peuple sahraoui (EUCOCO) and le
Forum pour un Contrat de Génération Nord-Sud.
GANI Eve
"Eve Gani is Director of International Affairs for CRIF (Conseil
Représentatif des Institutions juives de France). She became a
professional in CRIF in 2009 where she developed an expertise in
international relations, relations with the Muslim community and
counterterrorism. In 2014 she joined the Radicalization Awarness
Network (RAN) set up by the European Commission. Presided by Roger
Cukierman, CRIF is a national federation, made up of 68 Jewish
organizations. CRIF represent the organized French Jewish community
and maintain dialogue with the authorities and the media. CRIF aim to fight against antisemitism,
defend human rights, protect the memory of the Shoah and express solidarity with the state of
Israel."
GARDNER Mark
Mark Gardner has worked full time for Community Security Trust (and its
predecessor, Community Security Organisation) since 1989. He has been
Director of Communications and Deputy Director of Operations since 2005.
Mark plays a lead role in co-ordinating UK Jewish media and political
responses on CST’s core issues of antisemitism, policing, security and
terrorism. He is frequently quoted in Jewish, UK and international media;
and speaks regularly at public meetings and conferences on these subjects.
Mark has represented CST and the Jewish community to Government and
international bodies on numerous occasions, including the 2006
Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism, and various European Union committees and anti-racism
research projects. He was awarded a Metropolitan Police commendation for his advisory role on behalf
of all London's minority communities during the Nazi nail bombing campaign of 1999.
Mark has authored many articles and CST reports on antisemitism, policing, security and terrorism.
GARRAHY David
David Garrahy leads the European Youth Forum’s Advocacy and
Policy outreach on themes such as youth employment, youth
organisation development and youth political participation. He
also oversees work in facilitating cooperation between youth
organisations members and decision-makers at Member State
level. Before this, he lead the Youth Forum’s campaign for the
2014 European Elections entitled LoveYouthFuture, which saw
many MEP candidates endorsing the Youth Forum election
manifesto.
GASPARD Anne
Anne Gaspard is the Executive Director of Equinet – European Network of
Equality Bodies since the establishment of the Equinet Secretariat in 2008.
Anne had been active and involved in the field of equality and non-
discrimination at a European level since the start of her professional career,
following her graduation in European studies and political science from
University College London and Berlin Humboldt University.
Starting with the campaign of the European Year against Racism in 1997 for
the European Parliament and a subsequent stage experience within the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) at the Council
of Europe, Anne then joined and managed the UK-based secretariat of the European Monitoring Centre
on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) to support its Chair from 1998 to 2000. Anne was then responsible
for the implementation of various European anti-discrimination and equality projects for a European
diversity management consultancy leading the European office of Focus Consultancy in Brussels for
seven years, until taking up the position of Executive Director of Equinet Secretariat in February 2008
GEENS Koen
Mr. Koen Geens is the Minister of Justice in the Belgian federal cabinet. He took
office in October 2014, after serving as Minister of Finance from March 2013 to
October 2014. He studied law at UFSIA (University of Antwerp) and
subsequently at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), where he
graduated in 1980. One year later he also received an LL.M. degree from
Harvard University. From 1981 to 1985 he was a PhD fellow for the National
Fund for Scientific Research. From 1985 until 1986 he worked as an assistant
at the Faculty of Law of the KU Leuven. He received his Doctor’s degree of Law
in 1986, for which he was awarded twice. From 1990 onward, Koen Geens has
had several academic functions, and rendered many social and scientific services. He continues
teaching at the KU Leuven, where he became lecturer in 1986 and senior full professor in 1993, and
now is a part-time professor whilst being a federal Minister. Koen Geens is the author of many works in
the field of Corporate Law, and a member of the editorial staff of several legal series and law reviews.
GIANNASI Paul
Paul works in the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom. Since 2007
he has lead the cross-government Hate Crime Programme which brings
all sectors of government together to coordinate efforts to improve the
response to hate crime across the criminal justice system. Paul is the UK
National Point of Contact to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe on hate crime and has worked to share good
practice within the OSCE region and within Africa. Paul has 30 years
experience as a police officer and is a member of the National Police
Chief’s Council’s Hate Crime Group. He manages True Vision
(www.report-it.org.uk) on behalf of the police and is the author of the
2014 Police Hate Crime Manual which offers guidance to all UK police officers and partners. Paul is the
co-editor of the 2014 ‘Routledge International Handbook on Hate Crime’ and ‘Tackling Disability
Discrimination and Disability Hate Crime - A Multidisciplinary Guide published by Jessica Kingsley in
2015. Paul was awarded an OBE in the 2014 New Years Honours list for services to policing, equality
and human rights.
GILLHOFF Nikola
Since September 2015 Deputy Special Representative for relations with Jewish organisations, German
Foreign Office; May 2013 – September 2015 Policy officer Egypt, European External Action Service;
2010 – 2013 German Representative Working Party Maghreb/Mashrek, German Permanent
Representation to the EU; 2008 – 2010 Deputy Head of Task Force Development, European Personnel
Selection Office; 2005 – 2008 Deputy Head of unit European affairs, Federal Chancellery Berlin; 2003
– 2005 German Representative Working Party on Asia, German Permanent Representation to the EU;
1993 – 1995 Consular Service German Embassy Tel Aviv.
GRZYBOWSKI Samuel
Samuel Grzybowski, born 20 May 1992 in Paris, is graduated
at Sciences Po and History at the University Paris 1 Panthéon
Sorbonne. In January 2009, he founded Coexist, a youth
movement for interfaith dialogue he chairs since its first
general meeting on October 15, 2009. He is also the founder
of InterFaith Tour a worldwide experience for youngsters
around the world meeting interfaith activist in 40 countries
during a year long. In 2015 he launched Convivencia, a
consulting company about religions and laïcité for enterprises.
HADDOU Aicha
Aicha Haddou is an academic researcher with a background in Pedagogy,
Islamic Theology and Religious Studies. She is founder and Vice-President
of European Research on Islamic Development, a transnational research
network, and Director of EmridDialog-Europe. Member of the Executive
Committee of European Jewish and Muslim Leaders-Europe (FEU), Co-
President of Women of Faith Belgium (Religions For Peace) , Co-initiator
of the Women’s International Network of Jewish-Muslim Dialogue
(FFEU), Representative of the European Women of Faith Network and member of Religions for Peace -
Europe. She is Director of the prestigious Center for Interfaith Studies and Research of the Rabita Al-
Mouhammadia of the Ulemas, Morocco. Upon appointment by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, she is
Member of the Superior Council of Education, Training and Scientific Research.
HAJJI Khalid
Contributes to training imams in Europe. Introducing religious Muslim religious
leaders to European culture.
Member of Islam Konferenz (2011-2012 and 2012-2013). Germany
Founding member of « Circle of Wisdom for Thinkers and
Researchers », Rabat, Morocco.
Vice President of « Maghareb Center for Studies in Civilization »,
Rabat/ Morocco
Dr. Hajji´s Ph.D. is in Anglo–American studies. Paris-Sorbonne: 1994.
His thesis covered Thomas Edward Lawrence (Alias Lawrence of Arabia) and
the Experience of the Desert.
Dr. Hajji speaks Arabic, French, English, German. His fields of interest and research: « Renewal
of Islamic Discours »; « Muslims in Europe »; « Art and Religion »; « Geo-politics and Geo-poetics
». He has supervised many researches on these themes.
Media Researcher. Founding member of Aljazeera Research Center (Doha, Qatar: 2006- 2008)
Thinker and Writer.
He has published dozens of Articles in various magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals. Co-
Editor of Almunaataf (Quarterly scientific Arabic Magazine). Among his Books:
Khalid Hajji. Lawrence d´Arabie ou l´Arabie de Lawrence: geographie, politique, poetique,
sagesse. (Paris: L´Harmattan, 2001)
Khalid Hajji. Min maddaiiq al–Hadatha ila Fadai al–Ibdaa al–Islami wa al–Arabi. (From the
Narrowness of Modernity towards a New Space of Islamo–Arabic Creativity) Arabic. (Beirut,
Casablanca: Arab Cultural Institution, 2005)
Khalid Hajji. Abderrahman wa al–Bahr (Abderrahman and the Sea). Novel in Arabic. (Beirut,
Casablanca: Arab Cultural Institution, 2010). Translated in German.
HATHROUBI Samia
Samia Hathroubi is a young French-Tunisian commentator and social
activist who specialises in the question of minorities and development
in Europe generally and Paris more specifically. She is very active
in anti-racism campaigning with a focus on issues relating to
Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism. She is currently working on different
projects to promotes the rights of minorities and inter-faith dialogue
with a number of European, French and US-based institutions,
including the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic
Understanding, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting racial
harmony and strengthening inter-group relations. She graduated from the University of Lyon 2 with an
MA in Islamic Studies and is currently studying Muslim-Jewish relations throughout history at the Woolf
institute in Cambridge, a leading institute in the academic study of relations between Jews, Christians
and Muslims.
HERBLIN Audrey
Audrey Herblin-Stoop is the Head of Public Policy of Twitter France and
represents Twitter with French officials and political institutions. She is also in
charge of social and environmental responsibility of the company in France.
Audrey began her career at MEDEF (French business confederation) in 2008
as Director of Mission Public Affairs, before joining TBWA\Corporate.
HOEVENAARS Judith
Ms. Judith Hoevenaars is a policy officer at the ministry of foreign affairs in
the Netherlands. She works in the European integration department, dealing
with the rule of law, human rights and several justice policies.
HOKOVSKÝ Radko
Radko Hokovský is the Executive Director and Chairman of the European
Values Think-Tank, which he co-founded in 2005. In addition he was active
in the Association for International Affairs, European Youth Parliament and
European Movement. Professionally he deals with the issues of EU internal
security, immigration, integration and prevention of radicalisation and
extremism. He lectures on these subjects at the Charles University in
Prague (Institute of Political Studies) and the Metropolitan University
Prague (Department of International Relations and European Studies). At
Charles University he graduated in 2006 from the Bachelor programme of
Political Science and IR. He has received his Master’s degree “Master of
European Studies” at the Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI) at
the University of Bonn, Germany.
HOLLOWAY Robert
Robert Holloway has been a journalist for more than 40 years. Since 1988 he
has worked for AFP international news agency and has held the positions of
foreign editor, acting editor-in-chief and deputy managing editor. While UN
correspondent in New York, he coordinated AFP's coverage of the 9/11
attacks on the World Trade Center. In 2007, he set up the AFP Foundation, a
not-for-profit organisation that promotes press freedom through training
journalists in developing countries. Much of the foundation's work has been in
the Middle East, a region Mr Holloway knows well, having worked for three
years in Beirut and for two years as Cairo correspondent of The Times. A
British-born citizen of France, he is married with one daughter.
HÖLVÉNYI György
Mr. György Hölvényi (born 13 June 1962 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Member of
the European Parliament for the EPP Group. Throughout his professional and
political career, Mr. Hölvényi has been actively involved in the Christian
democrat movement in Hungary and Europe. In the early 2000s, after acting as
deputy state secretary at the Hungarian Ministry for Youth and Sports, Mr
Hölvényi has taken up his duties at the EPP Group in the European Parliament
as spokesman for the Group’s Hungarian delegation. Following this, Mr.
Hölvényi acted as the leader of the EPP Group’s Secretariat for Intercultural
Dialogue and Religious Affairs. In 2012 Mr. Hölvényi was appointed to Secretary of State for the
Relations with Churches, Civil Society and National Minorities in Hungary. Since 2014, Mr Hölvényi is
currently working in the committees on environment and further culture and education of the EP. His
additional major activity is being the Co-Chair of the EPP Working Group on Intercultural and Religious
Dialogue. This dialogue aims at acknowledging the role that churches have in European society, also
responding to the new legal setting based on the Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty concerning dialogue
with Churches. In this capacity, Mr Hölvényi gives a special thematic focus to persecution of Christians
worldwide, the unified European response to the crisis of values and further to Christian-Muslim
relations.
HOOGENBOOM Theodorus Cornelis Maria
H.E. Bishop T.C.M. Hoogenboom, Auxiliary Bishop of Utrecht (The Netherlands):
Bishop T.C.M. Hoogenboom was born on 27 August 1960 in Oudewater (NL).
He studied law at the University of Utrecht and worked as an academic
researcher on constitutional and public administrative law with a special focus
on the status of human rights. He also graduated in theology at the Theological
Faculty of Utrecht and studied canon law at the Gregoriana in Rome. During this
time he was ordained priest (25 September 1999). He was consecrated Bishop
of Bistue and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Utrecht on 13
January 2010. Bishop Hoogenboom has been a Member of the Commission of
the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) since 2011
.
ISAL Sarah
Sarah is an independent consultant specialising in European equality, anti-
discrimination and diversity. She is the Chair of the European Network Against
Racism (ENAR), the only pan-European anti-racist network that combines
advocacy for racial equality and facilitating cooperation among civil society anti-
racist actors in Europe. The organisation was set up in 1998 by grassroots
activists on a mission to achieve legal changes at European level and make
decisive progress towards racial equality in all EU Member States.
Sarah is also a Trustee of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), an
organisation working both inside and outside the Jewish community to provide a Jewish voice on
Refugee and Asylum issues in the UK.
She has extensive research and policy experience in fields as diverse as racist violence, ethnic minority
women, criminal justice and European anti-discrimination legislation. Her latest work includes research
for the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities into the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic
Women in Northern Ireland and an evaluation of the Open Justice Initiative's project on ethnic profiling
in Europe.
Prior to that, Sarah worked for 12 years at the Runnymede Trust, Britain's leading race equality think
tank, where she was Deputy Director and ran the European and international programme, as well as
the Trust's criminal justice programme.
ISLAM Shadaba
Shada Islam is responsible for policy oversight of Friends of Europe’s initiatives,
activities and publications. She has special responsibility for work on the future
of Europe, immigration and integration issues as well as the Asia Programme
and the Development Policy Forum. Shada is the former Europe correspondent
for the Far Eastern Economic Review and has previously worked at the
European Policy Centre. She writes and speaks extensively on EU topics,
diversity and immigration, NATO, WTO, EU-Asia relations and development
issues.
JIVRAI Gulshan Aziz Husein
I was born in Eldoret (Kenya) and left Town at seventeen to study in England. After
finishing my studies I joined the National Westminister Bank in the taxation dept and
went on to work with Stoy Hayward in central London. Left England in 1975 to join
my partner who had a tourist office in Via Veneto in Rome. We expanded the
business and when we sold it in 2002 we represented as General sales agents, six
Airlines, had our own Cargo office ground Services for Cruise Shipes and medical
congresses out of Italy. After leaving business I qualified as an International judge
for endurance horse riding. In 2005 I was asked, as a Shia Ismaili Muslim to join
the consultancy group being formed by the then Minister of Internal affairs Pisanu. Subsequently I
continued with other Ministers -Prof. Amato Maroni, and Ministers for Immigration and Integration Prof
Riccardi and Kyenge. In 2012 I became President of club of Bordighera, where I now reside, of Amitié
Sans Frontieres with the International headquarters in Monte Carlo and Prince Albert as our
honrary President.I have been asked to help organise an event in December in Monte Carlo -
misticism in three religions. I also at present collaborate with the Mayor of Ventimiglia and Bordighera.
JOUROVÁ Věra
Věra Jourová is the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality
since November 2014. She started her career working as Secretary and
Spokesperson of the Municipal Office in Třebíč, Czech Republic (1995-2000),
where, among other things, she focused on integration of cultural facilities. She
became the Head of the Department of Regional Development of the Vysočina
Region in 2001. In 2003 she became Deputy Minister for Regional Development
where she led the European Integration Section. As of 2006 she worked as the
Managing Director at Primavera Consulting Ltd, focusing on EU regional funds
and consultancy work related to the EU accession of the Western Balkans. In
2012-2013 she worked in a law firm Bezděk & Partners and in 2013 she was elected Member of the
Czech Parliament. In 2014 she was appointed Minister for Regional Development in the Czech
government. She has Master degrees in law and theory of culture from the Charles University in Prague.
KALENOVA Raya
Raya Kalenova was elected as the Executive Vice-President of the
European Jewish Congress (EJC) in 2012. From 2008 till 2012, Raya
served as Deputy Secretary General and was responsible for the creation
and management of the EJC office in Brussels. Raya Kalenova is also a
member of the Board of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and
represents the EJC at the World Jewish Restitution Organization and
Claims Conference. The European Jewish Congress is the
democratically-elected official representative organization of over 40
European Jewish communities.
KALHOUSOVA Irena
Irena Kalhousová is currently a PhD student at the London School of Economics.
She is a Chief analyst and a member of the Program Committee at the
Foundation Forum2000. In 2014 she was a Fellow at the Institute for the National
Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel. Between 2010-2013 she worked as a Chief
Analyst at the Prague Security Studies Institute, Czech Republic. Ms. Kalhousová
focuses on the the Arab-Israeli conflict, security in the Middle East, and the EU-
Israel relations. Ms. Kalhousová lectured at the Anglo-American University and
Metropolitan University Prague, where she was teaching courses on the Middle
East and the European Union. She regularly contributes to Czech and
international newspapers and journals and makes live commentaries for Czech TV and radio regarding
contemporary Middle-Eastern issues. Ms. Kalhousová holds an M.Phil. degree in Contemporary
European Studies from University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2013 she was a Masaryk Distinguished Chair Fellow at the
Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya, Israel.
KANTOR Moshe
Moshe Kantor is a prominent Jewish leader and philanthropist. He has served
as the President of the European Jewish Congress since 2007.
Moshe Kantor is well known worldwide for his fight against antisemitism,
racism and neo-Nazism and has greatly contributed to revitalizing Jewish life
in Europe and beyond. Dr Kantor is also the President of the World Holocaust
Forum Foundation, Vice Chairman of the Council of Yad Vashem, the
Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, President of the
European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation and President of the
International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe. The European Jewish Congress,
the largest secular organization representing the interests of European Jewry, is an influential,
international public association representing 42 national Jewish communities.
KARIUKI Peter
Senior advisor in the Ministry of Justice, unit for Democracy, Language
Affairs and Fundamental Rights. Also secretary-general of the advisory
board for ethnic relations ETNO, which is an expert body established by
the central government mandated to consult on migration, equality and
integration issues. The national board has seven regional branches that
also undertake in enhancing better ethnic relations regionally.
KATHREIN Georg
Dr. Georg Kathrein – Lebenslauf. Geboren am 30.7.1957 in Innsbruck,
verheiratet, ein Kind. 1984 Ernennung zum Richter des BG Innsbruck.
1986 Zuteilung an das BMJ, als Referent Mitwirkung an verschiedenen
Gesetzesvorhaben im Familien- und Erbrecht (z. B. Unterbringungsrecht,
Fortpflanzungsmedizinrecht, Anerbenrecht).
1995 – 2088 Abteilungsleiter in der Zivilrechtssektion des BMJ (Schuld- und
Sachenrecht, Versicherungsrecht, Verbraucherrecht). Vorbereitung und
Betreuung verschiedener Gesetzesvorhaben auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene im allgemeinen
Zivilrecht, im Schadenersatzrecht, im Verbraucherrecht, im IT-Recht, im Versicherungsrecht und im
Persönlichkeitsrecht. Seit 2008 Leiter der Zivilrechtssektion im BMJ.Wissenschaftlich verschiedene
Bücher und Aufsätze im Zivilrecht. Seit 2003 Honorarprofessor am Institut für Zivilrecht der
Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Wien.
KITANOVIC Elizabeta
Mag. Elizabeta Kitanovic is Executive Secretary for Human Rights of
Conference of European Churches in Brussels. She is working as an
senior human rights advocate vis-a-vis International Organizations. She is
editor of the Human Rights Training Manuel for European Churches and is
editor and founder of the first European Churches Human Rights Library
and the CSC Annual Report 2007-2014. In 2009/2010 she has been a
member of the Advisory Panel of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and
was again nominated for 2012/2014. Ms Kitanovic completed her studies
in Theology and post-graduate studies in International Affairs of the
Political Science Faculty in Belgrade. She graduated from the Diplomatic
Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Serbian Government. She
is also completing her PHD. Ms Kitanovic is regularly giving lectures and
presentations in the area of human rights and communications. She
speaks English, French, Greek and Serbian.
KJAERUM Morten
Work Experience:
2015- present: Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human
Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden;
2008-2015: First Director of the European Union Agency for
Fundamental Rights, Vienna;
1991-2008: Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights;
1984-91: Head of Department Danish Refugee Council.
Other experiences
2014-15: Chairperson of the Network of Directors of EU Agencies;
2002-2008: Member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination;
2002-2006: Member of the EU network of independent experts responsible for monitoring
compliance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
2004-2008 Chair of the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights
Institutions.
He has written extensively on human rights. In 2013 he was awarded an honorary professorship at the
University of Aalborg, Denmark.
KLEIN Felix Alexander Walter
Ambassador Dr. Felix Klein is Special Representative of the
German Federal Foreign Office for relations with Jewish
organizations and anti-Semitism issues since March 2014. From
1996 to 1998 he was Desk Officer at the Latin America Division of
the Foreign Office, followed by posts as Press and Cultural Attaché
at the German Embassy in Yaoundé/Cameroon, Desk Officer at the
Personnel Division for the Higher Service in Berlin, Deputy Head of Mission at the German General
Consulate in Milan/Italy and Deputy Head of Division for Bilateral Relations with Southern EU Member
States. From 2008 to 2011 he served as Private Secretary to the State Secretary of the Foreign Office,
and from 2011 to 2014 he was Head of the Personnel Division for the Higher Service in Berlin.
Ambassador Klein holds law degrees from the University of Freiburg/Germany and the London School
of Economics and Political Science.
KLENER Julien
Julien Klener is a Belgian linguist born in Ostend, Belgium in 1939.
During World War II he was a hidden child in Brussels. Since 1945, being
back in Ostend, he went to primary and secondary school and later on
studied Germanic languages (BA) and Semitic languages (BA, MA and Ph
D.). His main languages being Biblical Hebrew, Accadian, Biblical
Aramaic,Talmudic Aramaic, Ugaritic, Arabic and also a non-Semitic
language, Indonesian. After a few years teaching on higher secondary level
he continued his career at the Dutch-speaking Ghent University where he lectured until 2004. His main
teachings concerned: Judaism as a cultural system, Biblical Hebrew (undergraduate and graduate
students) Comparative linguistics of the Afro-Asiatic languages (graduate students), Semitic Epigraphy
(graduate students)] and General Introduction to Semitic Studies (graduate students). He also studied
in Amsterdam, Jerusalem and in 1977 received a Fulbright-grant which brought him to California. During
his tenure at Ghent University, he also taught, for about ten years, at the French-speaking University
of Liège. He published approx. 120 monographies and articles on different aspects of his subjects, cfr.
f.i. Spanish Jewry at the Eve of the Expulsion,pp. IX-XIX, in The Expulsion of the Jews and their
Emigration to the Southern Low Countries, Leuven University Press, 1998 and The Throne and Reign
of David in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha,pp 455-475 in Mesopotamian History and
Environment, Cinquante-Deux Reflections sur le Proche-Orient Ancien offertes en Hommage à Leon
De Meyer, Peeters, Leuven, 1994. He was invited as a guest-lecturer in Paris, Madrid, Naples, Riga,
Budapest, Venice, Florence, Amsterdam, Jerusalem, Porto Alegre, etc. Although being retired in
2004,[1] he was invited until 2011, to lecture on Judaism at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic
University of Leuven. He continued lecturing,[2] on Biblical-Aramaic and Philological Analysis of Biblical
Texts at the Institut d' Etudes Juives of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and on Judaism at the Instituut
voor Joodse Studies at the University of Antwerp,[3] Belgium. He is an honorary active member of the
section for moral and political sciences at the Royal Academy for Overseas Studies. He is also active
within different,academical and non-academical, Jewish,inter-religious and inter-convictional
organisations.As a gifted, voluble trilingual speaker he is often asked to address national and
international meetings on subjects concerning his academical specialisms or on matters reflecting upon
the present and/or the future of European Judaism, lately f.i.in Brussels(2011),Berlin (2012), in Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem (2013,2014,2015), at the European Parliament in Brussels and in Ottawa and Montreal
(2015).
Between 2000 and the spring of 2015 he was the president of the Consistoire Central Israèlite de
Belgique, which is the official Jewish umbrella organization representing Judaism vis-a-vis the Belgian
State. As such he was regularly meeting with the Belgian authorities on matters concerning local
Jewishness. These meetings sometimes happen together with the two other Belgian-Jewish roof-
organizations: Het Forum voor Joodse Organisaties from Flanders and the CCOJB,a more French-
speaking umbrella. As president of the Consistoire he represented the Jewish community of Belgium at
the abdication ceremony of King Albert II and at the swearing in of king Philippe on the 21st of July 2013.
The Consistoire was founded in 1808 by the emperor Napoleon I.The official celebrations of the
Bicentenary were held in Brussels in 2008. One of the ceremonies was an academic session at the
Great Synagogue of Brussels. Thanks to his efforts, the national event was deeply honored, and this for
the first time since the Belgian independence in 1830, by the presence of the actual reigning king,
H.R.H.Albert II. Julien Klener is also a Board Member of the Brussels based organization CEJI - A
Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe.
KLOSSA Guillaume
Guillaume Klossa, director, European Broadcasting Union
Guillaume Klossa is member of the management board of the
European Broadcasting Union where he is director in charge of
public affairs, communications, media research and digital. A
writer and think tanker, he wrote on the question of European
identity particularly on how fundamental rights are a central part of the European post-WWII identity and
unity and also about the European youth and narrative. Special adviser to the French Presidency of the
European Union, he served also the European Council reflection group on the future of Europe before
joining EBU. Founding chairman of the EuropaNova think tank, founder of the NewPact for Europe
initiative and of the EU European Young leaders programme, he also anchored political TV shows and
was a European Columnist for diverse European and international media.
KLUG Brian
Dr Brian Klug is Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, St.
Benet’s Hall, Oxford; member, faculty of philosophy, University
of Oxford; Hon Fellow, Parkes Institute for the Study of
Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton; past
Visiting Scholar, International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim
Understanding, University of South Australia (2012). His books
include Being Jewish and Doing Justice: Bringing Argument to Life (2011) and Children as Equals:
Exploring the Rights of the Child (co-edited, 2002). He has published extensively on Jewish identity,
antisemitism, Islamophobia race, etc., including chapters in Dynamics of Difference: Christianity and
Alterity (2015) and Racialization and Religion: Race, Culture and Difference in the Study of Antisemitism
and Islamophobia (2014). He is Associate Editor of the journal Patterns of Prejudice.
KOHNER Eva Deborah
Secretary General, ENNHRI
Debbie Kohner is Secretary General of the European Network of National
Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI). ENNHRI supports National Human
Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to promote and protect human rights across wider
Europe.
Debbie is a qualified solicitor, having practised law in London and Madrid.
She also worked in the NGOs sector, such as co-convening a coalition of equality and human rights
organisations in Northern Ireland. Previously, she coordinated a major research project to set up the
first reporting system for racist incidents in New Zealand. She has also worked at Westminster, the UK
Parliament. Debbie studied law at Jesus College, Oxford; Université de Paris II; and College of Europe;
as well as Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ulster.
KONSTANTINIS Moysis
Moses Constantinis was born in Athens in 1932.
He comes from a family that contributed to Greek and to Jewish life as well.
His father, Kanaris Constantinis, was a founding member, as well as the first
President, of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (in 1945),
the umbrella Organization of the Greek Jewry, founded after the War in order
to reconstruct Jewish life in Greece and re-organize Community structure.
In his youth, Moses Constantinis has been highly involved within the Jewish Organizations in Athens.
During the 50’s he was President of the Zionist Youth Organization and he was publishing the Jewish
paper «Al Magor». A keen researcher of the Greek Jewish history, he has been the key speaker at a
number of meetings and fora both Jewish and non-Jewish.
Moses Constantinis has been President of the Public Relations Committee of the Central Board of
Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) from 1980 to 1997. He was the Secretary General of KIS Board
from 1991 to 1997. He is also being serving as Vice President at the Board of the Jewish Museum of
Greece since its foundation in 1977.
In January 1998 he was for the first time elected President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities
in Greece (KIS). From January 2001 to January 2010 he was being re-elected at the Presidency of KIS
Board by the General Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish Communities in Greece. In January
12, 2015, he once again assumed the Presidency of the Board of KIS.
In his private life, Moses Constantinis works as a Special Advisor at the Hellenic Post for more than 40
years and he has many times officially represented Greece in international meetings. He is the author
of many books on Jewish and non-Jewish subjects, for which he has received the Award of the Academy
of Athens. He is honorary member of the Thessaloniki Jewish Community. His work for the benefit of
Judaism and Jewish issues has been awarded by the American Jewish Committee and Keren Hayesod.
Moses Constantinis has two children, six grand-children and he is married to Graciella Bourla.
KOSTADINOVA Evgeniya
Graduated from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. MA in
Bulgarian Philology and English language as second speciality.
2007 – Multimode specialisation in European Institutions, Sofia
University;
2013 - Specialisation in EU functioning, Public Administration Institute,
Maastricht.
For more than 13 years has worked as Bulgarian Literature and
Language teacher. After a two years period as a chief expert, in 2004 was
appointed Director of Curricula and Study Contents Directorate in Ministry
of Education and Science.
Main responsibilities in the field of development and implementation of State educational
Requirements, national syllabi and curricula for pre-primary, primary, secondary and
vocational education as well as for organisation and analyses of national assessments and
mature.
Co-author of two textbooks in Literature for 11th and 12th grade as well as of some teaching
materials and workbooks in literature.
KUCUKAKIN Sami
Mr. Sami Kücükakin is Chairman of the Muslim Council of Denmark, the
largest umbrella organization for Muslim associations in the country, with
35-40.000 members. He is member of the Contact Group for Muslim and
Christian Leaders in Denmark, which debates topical issues and
publishes statements encouraging cooperation and peaceful
coexistence. Kücükakin is also member of the Jewish-Christian-Muslim
Forum in Copenhagen, which focuses on how religion can be a
constructive foundation for the individual and an integral part of the development of society.Finally he is
the founder of Dialogue Forum, which has introduced the annual Dialogue Award given to prominent
figures in the Danish society facilitating and promoting peaceful and fruitful coexistence between people
of different faith and origin.
KUHNKE Alice
Alice Bah Kuhnke holds the position as Minister for Culture and
Democracy in the Swedish Government since October 2014. She
belongs to the Green Party. Ms Bah Kuhnke has a BA in Political
Science from Stockholm University and holds several diplomas in
leadership. She has many years of experience and commitment in
areas such as human rights, environment and civil society. Ms Bah
Kuhnke was previously Director-General of the Swedish Agency
for Youth and Civil Society. Ms Bah Kuhnke has also long experience in culture and media, including as
reporter for the Swedish public service broadcaster, SVT, and for TV4. She has served as a board
member of several institutions as well as civil society organization.
KUKENHEIM Simone
Simone Kukenheim was already active in politics during her time studying
political science at university. In 2004, she did a fellowship for the American
Congressman Tom Lantos, after which she worked for two years for
Lousewies van der Laan, a member of the House of Representatives.
While working at the international organisation Humanity in Action she was
committed to increasing the involvement of a new generation of leaders for
diversity and human rights. Kukenheim was also founder and board
member of the youth organisation of the Centre for Information and Documentation of Israel (CIDI). In
2006, she was Group Chair of the council group of D66 in the District of Zuid and in 2010 served as a
member of the Executive Committee. As portfolio holder she was, amongst other things, responsible for
the investment programme for expansion, renovation and improvement of school buildings. She was
also responsible the citywide implementation of the recommendations of the Gunning Committee in
response to the Amsterdam sex crimes case. Simone Kukenheim lives with her partner and has three
children.
LANGE Christian
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice
Born on 27 February 1964 in Saarlouis; Protestant
Training and professional experience:
1983 Abitur (higher-education entrance qualification) in Waiblingen, followed by
study of law in Tübingen
1989 First State Examination in Law at the University of Tubingen
1989-1991 Civilian service
1991-1993 Compulsory period of practical legal training in Stuttgart and Brussels
1993 Second State Examination in Law in Stuttgart Political and social functions
From 1993 until election to the Bundestag worked for the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics,
initially responsible for federal and Bundesrat affairs, and later for crafts and small and medium-sized
enterprises; former senior civil servant (Oberregierungsrat). Since 1998, Member of the German
Bundestag, recently Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
LINK Michael Georg
Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
in Warsaw. Prior to that, Mr. Link served as the 1st Deputy Foreign Minister,
the Minister of State for European Affairs and member of the Cabinet of
Ministers of the German Government, in charge of OSCE, EU, Council of
Europe and NATO affairs. As a member of the German parliament since
2005, he was a member of the German Delegation to the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly.
LÜDERS Christine
Since February 2010, Ms Lüders has been the Head of the
Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (FADA) of Germany.
Ms Lüders, 62, studied education. She has worked as Executive
Assistant to the Board and Head of Department at Lufthansa and
was in charge of the Division 'Press, Public Relations and
Communication' at the Ministry for Generations, Family Affairs, Women and Integration of the federal
state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Most recently, she served as Head of the Public Relations Division
and Commissioner for Foundations at the Ministry for Education and Cultural Affairs of the federal state
of Hesse. Ms Lüders is married and lives in Berlin and Frankfurt / Main.
MANOLOPOULOS Konstantinos
Constantinos Manolopoulos, Director a.i., EU Agency for Fundamental Rights
(FRA)
Constantinos Manolopoulos graduated as an economist specialized in European
politics and European studies. He started his career as an economist in the
private sector followed by a period employed by the Greek government in
different ministries (Ministry of Culture, Ministry of National Economy, Ministry of
Commerce and Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and worked in Canada and Brussels (Permanent
Representation). In 1996 he joined the European Commission (DG 1) dealing with trade defence
mechanisms. In the summer of 1999, in the interests of the service, he participated in the task force in
Kosovo contributing to the effort of the European Union to reconstruct the area as Head of the Economic
and Agricultural Sector. He became the Head of Administration and acting Secretary General of the
European Agency for Reconstruction in 2000, achieving the goal of maintaining very low administrative
expenses in relation to the approximately 3 billion euros invested by the European Union in Kosovo,
Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro. He was also the Head of Administration (2004) of the European
Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and since 2007 he has been the Head of Administration
of the FRA. He is currently interim Director of the FRA.
MARGOLIN Menachem
Rabbi Menachem Margolin has served as the General Director of
the European Jewish Association since 2010. In this role, he has
spearheaded the direction and activities of this umbrella
organisation representing Jewish communities and organisations
across Europe. The EJA lobbies European and national politicians
to raise the profile of and support its initiativesto fight against anti-
Semitism and intolerance and preserve religious ritual practice across EU member states and the
continent of Europe. The EJA was especially instrumental in lobbying for the overturning of the Polish
constitutional ban on the practice of ritual slaughter, which was successfully approved in December
2014. The EJA additionally holds regular briefings on the state of anti-Semitism in Europe, and other
issues of concern for European Jewry, including a successful round-table briefing for Ambassadors to
the EU and Belgium and high-level Embassy staff and the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat
Anti-Semitism.
Israeli-born Rabbi Margolin has concurrently served as General Director of the Rabbinical Centre of
Europe since 2006, representing more than 700 Rabbis across Europe. He has also worked assisting
the Jewish communities of Budapest, Hungary and Bangkok, Thailand as part of his rabbinical
ordination.
MARKKULA Markku Antero
Markku Markkula (born 15 July 1950 in Kolari, Finland) is the President of the
European Committee of the Regions (CoR). He became member of the CoR
in 2010 and has held a number of positions in the institution over the last five
years, including the rapporteurship on opinions such as “European Industrial
Policy Package”, “Digital Agenda for Europe”, “Horizon 2020”, and “Closing
the Innovation Divide”. A long-standing politician, Mr Markkula has been
member of the Espoo City Council since 1980 (holding its Presidency in 1990-
92 and 2010) and is a former member of the Finnish Parliament (1995-2003).
He further sits on the Board of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council and chairs the Espoo City
Planning Board. Additionally he works at the Aalto University as advisor to Aalto Presidents, where his
focus mainly lays on European Union research, innovation and education policy affairs.
MATTIJSSEN Astrid
I work as a senior policy adviser for the Minister of Security and Justice at the
Department Law Enforcement and Criminal Affairs.
For the Netherlands I am a member at the Commission's expert group on hate
crime (i.e. the expert group on Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on
combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law) and the EU
Working Party on hate crime.
MC GOWAN-SMYTH Iverna Maria
Iverna is the acting Director and the Director of Programmes at
Amnesty International’s EU office. She leads on the implementation
of the organisation’s EU strategies on the protection and promotion
of human rights both within the EU and worldwide. At EU level
Amnesty International advocate for the EU and its member states
to put human rights at the forefront of all of their actions. Iverna has
been with AI since 2012, before her current role she acted at the organisation’s representative to the
EU presidency. Before joining Amnesty in 2011, Iverna gained worked as a legal researcher for the
United Nations Committee on ending all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), she also
worked as a human rights desk officer with the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s graduate
programme. She holds an LL.M from the European Law School of the University of Maastricht where
she studied international and regional human rights law, and a B.A. in European Studies from Trinity
College Dublin. She speaks French, German Irish, and Spanish.
MERCADE Christel
Christel Mercadé Piqueras works for the European Commission in DG
Justice as legal/policy officer on EU policy against racism, xenophobia
and all other forms of intolerance and protection of fundamental rights.
Before joining the Commission she served as an external legal
consultant for the Commission at Tipik Legal (2014), as Human Rights
lawyer before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the
Peruvian NGO APRODEH (2011-2012) and as labour lawyer at the
Spanish Lawfirm Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves, Pereira (2008-2011). Her
educational background include a degree in Economics (2006) and a
degree in Law (2009) at the University Pompeu Fabra (Spain) and
University of Leicester (UK), and a Master of European Law (LL M) at the College of Europe, Bruges
(2012). She is a member of the Barcelona Bar association.
MEYER-SCHWERDTFEGER Kathrin
Dr. Kathrin Meyer, Executive Secretary of the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), has an MA in Educational Science and a
PhD in History from the Technical University Berlin. After completing her
studies, she was a research fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust
Studies at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and became a Senior
Research Fellow at the Center for Research on Antisemitism, Technical
University Berlin. In 2004, Dr. Meyer was appointed Adviser on Antisemitism
Issues at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, Poland. At the
OSCE/ODIHR, she designed and implemented a program aimed at combating antisemitism and
strengthening Holocaust education and remembrance in the then 56 participating OSCE States. In 2008,
Dr. Meyer was selected as the new Executive Secretary of the IHRA (formerly: ITF) to establish and
lead its Permanent Office located in Berlin, Germany. In her role as Executive Secretary, Dr. Meyer
advises and implements the priorities of the IHRA Chair and coordinates the activities of its 31 member
countries, four expert Working Groups and several specialized committees.
MICHOU Paraskevi
Since 1st October 2014, Ms Michou is Acting Director-General for Justice and
Consumers at the European Commission, dealing with civil justice, criminal
justice, fundamental rights, including data protection and free movement, and
equality. Since 1st January 2015, the DG is also in charge of consumer policy
and company law. She has been Director for Civil Justice since January 2011.
This Directorate deals with civil justice policy, contract law, company law and
all financial programmes of DG Justice. Previously, Ms Michou headed
various units in the Directorate-General for Communication Networks,
Content and Technology. In the European Commission she has also worked
in the Directorates-General for Enterprise and for Internal Market.
MORRICE Jane
Jane Morrice is Vice-President for Communication at the EESC.
She joined the EESC in 2006 and is a member of the Transport, Energy,
Infrastructure and Information Society (TEN) and Employment, Social Affairs and
Citizenship (SOC) sections. She has drafted a number of opinions, focusing on
the role of the EU in peace-building in Northern Ireland and beyond. In 2008, she
was appointed to the Northern Ireland Equality Commission, where she has
served two terms. She became a member of the Delors Task Force which
established the first EU Peace Programme in Northern Ireland, and it was this
work on peace-building that eventually led her into politics. Other career highlights include being deputy
speaker of the first Northern Ireland Assembly set up after the Peace Agreement, head of the European
Commission office in Northern Ireland, and a reporter for BBC Belfast.
MUGHAL Fiyaz
His working history includes over 15 years experience in the community and
voluntary sector in positions that have included social policy lobbying, project
and general management, conflict resolution work and leading organizations as
the Chief Operating Officer. Fiyaz has worked in a number of organizations
providing training to women right through to European transnational faith related
programmes and advice and information projects. Currently, Fiyaz Mughal is
currently the Founder and Director of a not for profit organization called Faith
Matters (www.faith-matters.org) which works on reducing extremism and
developing platforms for discourse and interaction between Muslim, Sikh,
Christian and Jewish communities right across the UK. Faith Matters also works extensively on
community cohesion, interfaith, conflict resolution and prevent programmes at a local, national and
international level. Fiyaz is also the founder and Director of the national anti-Muslim hate crime
monitoring project called TELL MAMA. TELL MAMA ensures the mapping monitoring and measuring of
anti-Muslim hatred across England and Wales and is the only national project that works in this area.
Since 2012, the project has assisted over 1,500 people and ensured over 100 arrests across the country.
Modelled on the Community Security Trust, it has fast become a well-recognised brand in the field of
hate crime work. Fiyaz was previously a Councillor in Haringey (2006-2010) and a Councillor in Oxford
(2002-2004). A previous Deputy President of a mainstream political party in the UK, he has also
campaigned heavily on Black and Minority Ethnic (group) inclusion within political parties and
discourses. He was also appointed to be on the Working Group for Communities that was linked to the
Extremism Task Force developed in 2005 after the 7/7 bombings. In early 2008, Fiyaz was successful
in becoming an elected member IDeA Peer Mentor for national work with local authorities on the
Preventing Violent Extremism agenda.
Fiyaz was also previously appointed by the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and
Local Government (the Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP) to be a member of the Local Delivery Advisory Group
on Preventing Violent Extremism. He was also appointed as the Advisor to the Leader of the Liberal
Democrats, Nick Clegg MP, on interfaith and preventing radicalisation and extremism between 2009 -
2010. Fiyaz was honoured in June 2009 by Her Majesty the Queen and was bestowed with the Honour
of the Order of the British Empire.
MULLER Guy
Guy Muller studied Public Administration at the The Hague University of
Applied Sciences and International Relations at the University of
Amsterdam. After graduation Guy taught Economics and Social Sciences in
secondary school. Since September 2012 he works as a chief researcher
anti-Semitism and supervisor of the WWII and Shoa Educational Platform
for CIDI.
MUNIR David
Entity: Islamic Centre , Karachi, Pakistan
Activity: Professor of Arabic and english language in 1986
Entity : Central Mosque of Lisbon
Activity: Imam of the Mosque - Teaching of Arabic Language and Religious Advisor of the Islamic Community of Lisbon since 1986
Entity: Instituto Oriental na Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Activity: Professor of Arabic language, between 1991 e 1995
Entiity: Universidade Independente
Activity: Professor of Arabic Language, Islamic History and Philosophy Muslim in the Graduation course in the academic year 1998/99
Entity: Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias
Activity: Professor of Arabic Language in the academic year 1998/99
Obs. Since 1986, iam in the Central Mosque of Lisbon, Portugal, and an active in creating builds with other religions and culture.
In 2009, considered to be one of the 500 influencial muslim of the world. Al ham du lilah.
MURRAY Alan
Alan Murray has been president of the European Network on Religion
and Belief (ENORB) since 2011, one of the European Equality
Networks implementing the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. A
former teacher, university lecturer, civil servant (UK Department of
Education) and programme manager for the European Commission,
specialising on Russia and Eastern Europe, he finished his career as
an adviser on education to the Archbishop of Canterbury, retiring in 2009. He has been active in anti-
discrimination and inter-faith work since the 1960s, and has been chair of All Faiths and None (AFAN),
set up, like ENORB, to include atheists, as well as the main faiths, in dialogue and action against
discrimination and for the common good.
NEMITZ Paul
Paul F. NEMITZ is the Director for Fundamental rights and Union
citizenship in the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
of the European Commission. The free movement of people in
Europe, data protection, fight against hate speech and racism and
rights of the child are key responsibilities of his Directorate.
Before joining the Directorate-General for Justice,
Nemitz held posts in the Legal Service of the European
Commission, the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Development Cooperation and in the Directorates
General for Trade, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Nemitz has extensive experience as litigator of the European Commission before the European Court
of Justice and has published widely on EU law.
He is visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.
Nemitz studied Law at Hamburg University. He passed the state examinations for the Judiciary and for
a short time was a teaching assistant for Constitutional Law and the Law of the Sea at Hamburg
University.
He obtained a Master of Comparative Law from George Washington University Law School in
Washington, D.C., where he was a Fulbright grantee. He also passed the first and second cycle of the
Strasburg Faculty for comparative law.
OPAČIĆ Milanka Education • 1991: Graduated in politology from the Faculty of Political
Sciences, University of Zagreb, • 1987: Finished secondary school for culture and art in
Zagreb • 1983: Finished the Marko Orešković Primary School in
Zagreb
Political Career • 2011- Deputy prime minister and minister of social policy and youth
2008-2011 : Member of Croatian Parliament, Chairperson of the Committee for Families, Youth and Sport, Vice- chairperson of the SDP parliamentary group
• 2003-2007: Member of Croatian Parliament, vice-chairperson of the Committee for Labour, Social Welfare Policy and Health Care, member of the Committee for Families, Youth and Sport, vice-chairperson of the SDP parliamentary group
• 2002-2003: Member of Croatian Parliament, chairperson of the Committee for Gender Equality, member of the Legislation Committee, member of the Credentials and Immunities Committee, vice-chairperson of the SDP parliamentary group
• 2000-2002: Member of Croatian Parliament, chairperson of the Credentials and Privileges Committee
• 1995-2000: Staff member of Croatian Parliament • 1992-1995: Elected to Croatian Parliament - House of Representatives • 1993-1995: Member of the Central Board of the SDP • 1996-2000: Vice-chairperson of the Central Board of the SDP, member of the Central Board,
member of the Executive Board of the SDP • 2000-2003: Member of the Central Board of the SDP • 2004: Vice-president of the SDP • Member of the SDP since 1990 Memberships • 2003-2011: member of the Child Protection Hotline Association
Ó RÍORDÁN Aodhán Oilibhéar
In July 2014 Aodhán was appointed as the Minister of State with
responsibility for New Communities, Culture and Equality and
Drugs Strategy. This brief is spread across both the Department
of Justice & Equality as well as the Department of Arts, Heritage
& the Gaeltacht. In April 2015 he was given the additional
responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy in the Department
of Health. A native Northside Dubliner, Aodhán was first elected
a TD in February 2011 having previously served as a member of Dublin City Council from 2004. Prior
to his appointment as a Minister of State he served as Vice Chair of the Committee on Education and
Social Protection and a member of both the Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform Committee and the
Good Friday Agreement Implementation Committee. Before 2011 Aodhán worked as a teacher and
principal in St Laurence O’Toole’s GNS in Sheriff Street where he was inspired to get involved in politics
to further the causes of the disadvantaged and voiceless in our society. He served as Deputy Lord Mayor
of Dublin in 2006, during which time he launched his ‘Right to Read Campaign’ in an effort to challenge
the poor literacy rates in disadvantaged areas. This was successful in helping promote local literacy
strategies which are still in place, and also opened every library in Dublin City for 6 days a week. It was
a moment of particular pride for Aodhán when the library local to Sheriff Street opened on a Saturday
due to his efforts.
PALLAVICINI Yahya
Imam and vice-president of CO.RE.IS. (Comunità Religiosa
Islamica) Italiana, a member of the board of the governors of the
Islamic Cultural Centre of Italy at the Rome Mosque and
ambassador of ISESCO (Islamic Organization for Education,
Science and Culture) for dialogue among civilizations. He is an
adviser on Islam in Italy at the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. He is a member
of the European Council of Religious Leaders and of the delegation of international Muslim scholars at
the Catholic-Muslim Forum held in the Vatican in 2008 and 2014, and he has been included — in the
category of institutional representatives — among the five hundred most influential Muslims in the world.
PAPAIOANNOU Konstantinos
• Secretary General for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice since
March 2015
• President of the National Commission for Human Rights
2006- 2015.
• Coordinator of Racist Violence Recording Network 2011-
2015.
• Board member of Hellenic League for Human Rights 2007-2013
• Secretary General for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice since March 2015
• President of the National Commission for Human Rights 2006- 2015.
• Coordinator of Racist Violence Recording Network 2011-2015. • Board member of Hellenic League for Human Rights 2007-
• Chair of the Greek section of Amnesty International 1996-2003.
• Responsible for programs of training of trade unionists on human rights and discrimination.
Tutor In seminars organised –among others- by the National School of Jurists, Police
Academy, EU Police Force In The Balkans, School Teachers Association (seminars included
issues of racist violence, police brutality and the rule of law, human rights and peace keeping
missions, human rights education, antiracist education etc).
• History and Modern Greek Teacher in Lycée Franco-Hellénique Eugène Delacroix. Holds a
degree in History and Archeology and a Master's degree in Political Science.
Books: “The clean hands of Golden Dawn, Applications of Nazi purity”, Metaihmio ed. Athens, 2013
“Let’s talk openly about the Far Right”, Hellenic League for Human Rights, 2014
PARAK Michael
Born 1973 in Dachau; since 2009 until today Non-Governmental Organization
“Against forgetting – For democracy”, Berlin, Managing Director.To combine
remembrance of the past with hands-on efforts to promote democracy – this was
the vision shared by the founding members of „Against forgetting – For
democracy” in 1993, when they got together against a backdrop of racist and
xenophobic rioting. From this initial vision, a politically independent national
association emerged. Today, over 2,000 members in 33 regional teams work to
keep memories of National Socialist crimes and of the injustices of the SED
dictatorship alive, while promoting participation in politics, civil society and the
critical analysis of political extremism. Form 2003-to 2012 Joachim Gauck has
been chair of the organization.
PIMIÄ Kirsi
Kirsi Pimiä, LL.M. Non-Discrimination Ombudsman in Finland since
15 May 2015. The task of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman is to
promote equality and to prevent discrimination. The Non-
Discrimination Ombudsman is an autonomous and independent
authority. The Ombudsman also works towards improving the rights,
living conditions and status of groups at risk of discrimination, such as
foreign nationals. The Ombudsman further supervises the removal
from the country of foreign nationals and is the National Rapporteur
on Trafficking in Human Beings. Previous positions held as Director
in the Ministry of Justice (2013-2014), Head of Unit, the EU Affairs Department at the Prime Minister’s
Office (2012-2013), Head of Cabinet, Ministry of Justice (2007-2008), Counsel in the Parliament (2003-
2007, 2009-2011), Legal Counsel at the Permanent Representation in the EU (2001-2003).
PORTARU Adina-Ioana
Adina Portaru serves as legal counsel for ADF International (Brussels office),
promoting human rights at the European Union. Prior to joining ADF
International, Portaru was a research assistant at Maastricht University in the
Netherlands and at the European Training and Research Centre for Human
Rights and Democracy in Austria. She holds a Bachelor in Theology, an LLM in
Law and Globalization and is currently concluding her Ph.D. thesis in law, which
assesses how the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee interpret
freedom of thought, conscience and religion
POST Soraya
Ms Soraya Post is a Swedish Roma activist and a member of the European
Parliament on behalf of the political party Feminist Initiative.
She was elected on an ideologically anti-racist and feminist agenda and is the
first Roma in Swedish history to list as a priority election candidate. Before being
elected she worked as a Human Rights Strategist and focused on the
empowerment of Roma women and the promotion of human rights as an activist.
She founded the International Roma Women´s Network and co-founded the
European Roma and Travelers Forum.
She is a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and of the Subcommittee
on Human Rights. She is a substitute of the Foreign Affairs Committee. One of her priorities is to work
against Anti-Gypsyism.
PRAWDA Marek
H.E. Mr. Marek Prawda, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary, is Poland's Representative to the EU.
PRIVOT Michael
Michael started as Networking and Campaigns Officer in the ENAR
team in January 2006 and became ENAR Director in March 2010.
He is also an international expert on radicalisation processes within
Muslim communities. Previously, he worked during four years as
FNRS Research Fellow at the University of Liège (Belgium). He has
more than a decade of experience in community building of Muslim
communities in Belgium and Europe. He holds a BA in Oriental History and Philology (Islamic Studies),
a specialisation in Comparative History of Religions (University of Liège) and Arabic (IFEA, Damascus),
and a PhD in Languages and Literature from the University of Liège (Belgium).
He has authored a book with T. Oubrou and C. Baylocq on imams in France, a number of academic
publications, published op-ed articles and appeared in a variety of media, including Euronews, Voice of
America, Al Jazeera, RT, Le Soir, RTBF and European Voice.
QURAISHI Basharat
I was born in India, but grew up in Pakistan. I have studied Engineering in
Germany and USA, and later studied International Marketing in London.
I am member of a number of Commissions, Committees and Boards
involved with Human Rights, Ethnic/Religious Equality Issues, anti-racism,
anti-discrimination, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, both in Denmark and
internationally. I am author of 8 books on minority issues.
On the Danish level, I am the Chief Editor of Media Watch, Chair of media monitoring organisation,
Ethnic Debate Forum and member of the Advisory Council of Danish Human Rights Institute. I have my
own weekly TV program on Copenhagen Channel on intercultural topics.
On the international level, from 2001 – 2007, I was President of ENAR – Brussels and since Nov 2007,
I am Chairman of ENAR’s Advisory Council, member of the "Board of Trustees" of the Dutch Foundation
" More colour in the media", General Secretary of the network, EMISCO -European Muslim Initiative for
Social Cohesion and Member of Advisory Board - Migration Research Centre - Hacettepe University -
Ankara. Turkey.
professional activities:
RÄMER Jan-Christopher
Jan-Christopher Rämer, City Councillor of Education, School, Culture and
Sports in Berlin-Neukölln
education:
Fritz-Karsen-School – university entrance diploma
Georg-August-University of Göttingen/University of Potsdam – Magister Artium, studies of geography, political science, ethnology and economics
assistant for a member of the German Parliament
desk officer for the vice chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD)
personal assistant for a parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety
activities as a member of the district council Berlin-Neukölln:
2006-2011 deputed member
2011-2014 chairman of a council committee
2011-2015 decreeded member
party political positions (selection):
since 2004 membership of the SPD Berlin-Neukölln
2005-2008 chairman of the SPD-youth organisation, Berlin-Neukölln
2008 vice chairman of the SPD-youth organisation, Berlin
since 2005 member of the district executive council, SPD Berlin-Neukölln
2012-2014 member of the executive council, SPD Berlin
since 2014 chairman of the SPD Gropiusstadt (Berlin-Neukölln)
since 2014 vice chairman of the district executive council, SDP Berlin-Neukölln
volunteer/sporting activities (selection):
2006-2011 chairman of the “Quartiersrat Körnerpark” - neighbourhood management council within the national Program “Social City”
2011-2014 member of the board of directors - “Nachbarschaftsheim Neukölln e.V.”
since 1990 ice-hockey player for „OSC Berlin e.V.“, Berlin-Neukölln
RAVO Linda
Linda Ravo is a legal expert specialised in EU human rights
law. Linda has been working since 2014 as a legal and policy
officer on fundamental rights issues in Directorate General
Justice in the European Commission. She currently is part of
the "Fundamental Rights and Rights of the Child" unit, where
she works on the enforcement of EU legislation on combating
racism and xenophobia as well as on the definition and
implementation of EU policies on combating racism,
xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, including against
LGBTI persons. She also is in charge of the mainstreaming of
fundamental rights in the areas of access to justice, internal security and counter-terrorism, asylum
and migration, and free movement of persons. Linda was in charge of organising discussions on
"Stepping-up action to prevent and combat antisemitic and anti- Muslim hate crimes" for this first
Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights. Before joining the Commission, Linda has worked as a
legal research assistant in the European Institutions Office of Amnesty International in Brussels and at
the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in Vienna, after having practiced as a
lawyer in Italy for some years. She obtained a Ph.D. in EU law at the University of Trieste, Italy (2012)
and has been focussing her academic research, lecturing and publications on EU human rights
related issues, in particular in the field of access to justice, non- discrimination, and asylum and
migration.
REUVEKAMP Maria
Marjan de Groot-Reuvekamp is a lecturer of history education at Fontys University
for Applied Sciences, School for Child studies and Education in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
She organized a number of seminars for Dutch Teacher Trainers and in 2010 she
was project manager of the organizing committee for the Annual Conference of
EUROCLIO in Nijmegen. There she was elected as a member of the EUROCLIO
Board. She is author of a textbook on teaching history in primary education that
is widely used in Dutch colleges and universities. Since 2012 she is working on
her PhD on the Improvement of the understanding of historical time for pupils aged 6 -12, on which she
published several articles in scientific journals and journals for teachers.
ROSCAM ABBING Friso
Friso Roscam Abbing has served as Head of Communication Department at the
FRA since 2009. Prior to this, Mr Roscam Abbing was a Member of Cabinet of
the European Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot, the Commissioner for
Freedom, Security and Justice. From 2004–2008, he was the spokesman of
European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, the Commissioner
responsible for Freedom, Security and Justice issues. Between 2000 and 2004,
he headed the EU Asylum Polices sector at the European Commission's DG
Justice, Freedom and Security. Before this, he led the EU Office of the European
Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE, 1994-2000) after starting his career as
Head of the Legal Department at the Dutch Refugee Council (1986-1994).
ROSSIDI Maria
Legal advisor at the General Secretariat for Human Rights, Hellenic Ministry of
Justice, since March 2015.Representing the Hellenic Ministry of Justice in FRA
Working Group on Hate Crimes and in the Greek National Commission for Human
Rights.She has worked as a member of the independent committees of the Hellenic
Appeals’ Authority on refugee status determination (2nd degree), for the NGO “Greek
Council for Refugees” providing legal assistance to refugees and asylum seekers
and she has conducted many projects/researches in the fields of asylum and human
rights as an independent contractor. She has been working as an attorney at law,
since 2004. Holds a degree in Law, a master’s degree in International Law and
Diplomacy and she is completing her PhD in International Human Rights Law.
ROTH Michael
Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office (since 2013)
Since 1998 directly elected member of the German Bundestag; 2010 to
2013 spokesperson on Europe of the SPD parliamentary group; 2009 to
February 2014 Secretary-General of the SPD in Land Hesse.
Since 2014 Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation, member of the Deutsche Welle
Broadcasting Board, member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for European Politics and member
of the board of the Franco-German Institute in Ludwigsburg, Chairman of the supervisory board of the
Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation
Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation
ROZEN Serge
The Coordination Committee of the Jewish organisations in Belgium is representing
more than 35 Belgian Jewish organisations active in the areas of education, culture,
sports, youth and social life. The CCOJB aims to strive for the protection, the study
and the development of jewish values in Belgium, to fight against antisemitism,
racism and xenophobia, to maintain the memory of the history and suffering of the
jewish community, to fight against all attempts to trivialize or misrepresent the
Holocaust, to defend the moral and material rights of the jewish community of
Belgium, its members and their dependants, victims of the Nazis and to support by all appropriate means
the State of Israel, the spiritual center of Judaism and haven for threatened jewish communities. As a
consequence, the CCOJB is active in fighting disinformation, Middle East conflict importation in Belgium,
negationism and deligitimisation of the State of Israel. Serge Rozen has been elected president of the
CCOJB in March 2015 for a 3 year mandate. A graduate from the Free University of Brussels
(Engineering degree) and from the Boston University (Master in Science of Management), he has spent
his professional life working for multinational corporations in the oil and petrochemical fields and then
as a partner in the Management Consulting arm of the professional services firm Deloitte. He is currently
director and fund manager of a private equity fund and teaches at a private business school.
SAASTAMOINEN Salla Marita
Salla Saastamoinen is the Director in charge of Equality in the Directorate-General
Justice and consumers, European Commission since 2014. The Directorate
Equality contributes to the development and consolidation of an area of freedom,
justice and equality, ensuring that citizens benefit from progress made at European
level. To this end, the Directorate coordinates and promotes policy developments
to combat discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age or sexual orientation, promotes awareness on gender equality and
non-discrimination and coordinates policy developments in respect of the Roma.
The Directorate is also responsible for the relationship to the European Institute for Gender Equality.
Salla Saastamoinen headed the Unit Fundamental rights and rights of the child (2013-14) and the Civil
Justice Policy Unit (2007-2013) in Directorate General Justice before taking over her current post. Salla
Saastamoinen is a lawyer from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She has worked in the Commission
for 18 years, in the beginning in the legal unit of the Directorate General Environment and then as legal
and policy official in the Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security in the unit Fundamental
rights and citizenship.
ŠAKALIENĖ Dovilė
Dovilė Šakalienė is Executive Director at the Human Rights
Monitoring Institute and Managing Director of the NGO Programme
Lithuania under the EEA Grants. She is also accredited journalist at
the Council of Europe (representing largest Baltic media group
DELFI); radio host/producer at Lithuanian News Radio; and has produced 2 human rights
documentaries. Dovilė incorporates her experience in international business consulting and university
teaching (Antisocial behaviour; Psychology of Criminal Behaviour) into active human rights work since
2004. Professional and academic interests include human rights (with focus on persons in closed
institutions and vulnerable groups), violence in close relations, hate and extremism, ethics and value
systems, cognitive information processing, extremely violent behaviour.
SCLAFANI Robin
Ms. Robin Sclafani is the Director of CEJI-A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive
Europe, the leading European Jewish organisation in the field of diversity
education, intercultural dialogue and anti-discrimination advocacy. With over 25
years experience in developing and delivering anti-prejudice diversity
awareness training programmes, Ms. Sclafani is the architect of the suite of
training programmes linked to the award-winning project Belieforama: A
Panoramic Approach to Issues of Religion and Belief, and she has been
coordinating one of civil society’s most promising initiatives in hate crime monitoring training, called
Facing Facts!. With an MA in Conflict Resolution, she was a 1998 Fulbright Scholar to the European
Commission for research on anti-racism work with youth.
SENYK Halyna
Ms. Senyk is Executive Director of the European Shoah Legacy Institute. She
is an expert in human rights, asset recovery, and international law. She has 12
years of experience in civil society development and state policy evaluation.
Prior to joining ESLI she had her private practice representing clients at the
European Court of Human Rights, worked with leading human rights
organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and
consulted for United Nations agencies. She helped to set up the Anti-Corruption
Action Centre, which played an important role in tracking the assets of the corrupted Yanukovych
regime. She studied at the London School of Economics, the Central European University, the Lviv
National University and the University of Essex.
SETTI Valeria
Valeria Setti works as Policy Officer in charge of migrants' integration at the
European Commission, DG for Migration and Home Affairs, since end of 2013.
Prior to that, she worked for Missing Children Europe as the coordinator of the
116 000 European hotlines for missing children. She also worked for the EU
Fundamental Rights Agency and Human Rights Watch. She studied in Italy,
France and Austria and holds a MA in International Studies.
SICHROVSKY Ilja
Ilja Sichrovsky is the Founder and Secretary General of the
Muslim Jewish Conference (MJC). Born in Berlin, he is the
son of a German mother and an Austrian father. His father’s
family has Jewish roots in Vienna dating back centuries; in
fact, one of his Jewish ancestors was knighted by Franz
Josef. Ilja was a counselor in Vienna’s Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. He represented the
University of Vienna three times at international Harvard student conferences. On each occasion, he
won the Harvard Award for Exemplifying the True Spirit of Diplomacy. Later, he acted as faculty adviser
and coach for the Viennese delegation at several conferences and he chaired the peace-building
commission at EURASIAMUN. Ilja wrote a scientific article about being a Jewish student studying at an
Austrian University six decades after the Holocaust. It was published by the University of Vienna and
integrated into curriculum.
SIPPEL Birgit
Birgit Sippel, MEP, born on 29 January 1960 in Bochum,
Germany, is a member of the Social Democratic Party of
Germany (SPD). Since 2009, Ms Sippel is a Member of the
European Parliament and of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists
and Democrats. She serves in the Committee on Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs, in which she has taken over the office
of the coordinator of the S&D Group after her re-election in 2014. Furthermore, she is a substitute in the
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. In the LIBE-Committee she has been actively working on
fundamental rights, e.g. on the asylum package, data protection and the right to privacy as well as on
procedural rights to name but a few.
ŠITLER Jiří
Jiří Šitler is a Czech diplomat and historian, designated by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues
and Combating Antisemitism since March 2015. He dealt with World War II
related issues since the 1990s, as press and foreign policy advisor to
President Václav Havel (1993 - 1997), as head of the Czech delegation at
the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets, observer in the
International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims,
Ambassador-at-Large for World War II - related issues, and chief negotiator
for compensation of Czech Nazi victims. J. Šitler has also been Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to Romania ( 2010
- 2015) and to the Kingdom of Thailand, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao PDR and the Union of
Myanmar/Burma (2001- 2006). He is also the author or co-author of numerous essays, articles and
books, especially on Czech-German relations, World War II - related issues, Czech political history and
South-East Asia history.
STAVROS Stephanos
Stephanos Stavros has been the Executive Secretary to ECRI, the Council
of Europe’s Commission against Racism and Intolerance, since June 2009.
He has also worked for the Council of Europe’s central administration, its
Legal Affairs Directorate General, and the European Court and Commission
of Human Rights; also for the legal department of the Greek MFA and the
Greek Council for Refugees. Stephanos Stavros has studied law in Athens
and London. He has a PhD and an MBA and has published extensively in the
fields of human rights, minority protection and criminal law.
STOCKWELL Nathalie
Nathalie Stockwell studied law in Belgium (Université
Catholique de Louvain) and specialised in European and
international law in London (joint LLM – Queen's College,
King's College and LSE). She worked at the Brussels Bar as
an "avocat" on European law issues for four years and then
joined the Court of Justice of the European Union in 1998. She
stared at the European Commission in 2003 where she
worked as a policy coordinator on youth and higher education
mobility programmes and policies (DG Education and
Culture). She has been working in DG Justice and Consumers for the past four years on fundamental
rights issues. She has in particular coordinated the Commission's 2013 EU Citizenship Report and EU
publications on citizens' rights. She is, within the Unit responsible for Fundamental Rights and the Rights
of the Child, in charge of relations with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and contacts
with the Council. She is also working on files relating to the rights of the child and to racism and
xenophobia. She was the team leader for the first Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights.
TAKÁCS Szabolcs Ferenc
Ambassador Szabolcs Takács, Chair of the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance for 2015, is a State Secretary responsible
for European Union Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office of Hungary.
In 2012, he was appointed Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in charge of global affairs and in July 2013 he began
serving as Political Director and Deputy State Secretary for security
policy, supervising joint EU foreign and security policy while also responsible for Hungary’s bilateral
relations with the countries of the Americas, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia. Szabolcs
Takács has been dealing with Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Hungary for over a decade and also serving as Deputy Head of Mission at the Hungarian Embassy in
Qatar.
THOMPSON Mischa
Dr. Mischa Thompson, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe (Helsinki Commission) Dr. Thompson serves as a Policy Advisor to the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative on Anti-Semitism,
Racism, and Intolerance, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin. In addition to racial and
religious discrimination, Dr. Thompson's portfolio includes migration and
integration issues in the 57 North American and European countries that make up
the OSCE region. Previously, Dr. Thompson served as a Professional Staff
Member and Congressional Fellow within the U.S. House and Senate working on
human rights, foreign policy, appropriations, trade, economic development, and security issues. Her
work includes the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network that has advanced over 100 diverse leaders
committed to inclusive societies in Europe and the United States. Originally from Detroit, Dr. Thompson
is a Fulbright Scholar, National Science Foundation and German Marshall Fund Fellow, who holds a
B.S. from Howard University, and PhD from the University of Michigan.
THYSSEN Marianne
Marianne Thyssen is the European Commissioner for Employment, Social
Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility. In 1991 Thyssen was elected as Member of
the European Parliament (MEP) for Flanders with the CD&V, the Flemish
Christian Democrats in Belgium, and has since spent over 24 years in politics.
In 2008 Thyssen was elected leader of the CD&V party. She also served as
leader of the European People's Party's (EPP) Belgian delegation and from
2004-2009 was elected first vice-president of the EPP. She holds a degree in
law from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Prior to entering politics
she worked as a legal adviser for a Belgian organisation for SMEs and the self-
employed, the women’s network Markant, as well as to the state secretary for public health and disability
policy. In 2014 Thyssen was appointed to the Juncker administration as Commissioner in charge of
Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.
TIMMERMANS Frans
Frans Timmermans is the First Vice-President of the
European Commission, responsible for Better Regulation,
Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the
Charter of Fundamental Rights. A Member of the Dutch
Parliament from 1998, he was the Netherlands' Minister of
Foreign Affairs between 2012 and 2014 and Secretary of
State for Foreign and European Affairs between 2007 and
2010. He started his career in the Dutch Foreign Ministry,
and before joining Parliament worked as adviser to Max van der Stoel, the High Commissioner on
National Minorities for the OSCE. He holds degrees in French literature, European law and history.
TOMAI Photini
Photini Tomai-Constantopoulou holds an Ambassadorial rank. She joined
the Foreign Ministry in 1985. She studied History and Archaeology. In 1993
she was appointed Director of the Service of Diplomatic and Historical
Archives. In 2013 she was appointed Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues.
In 1998 she co-edited the volume “Records on the History of the Greek
Jews”. Since then she has been assigned with the documentation of the
Holocaust through state sources. Author of “Greeks in Auschwitz-Birkenau”,
“The Greek Righteous” (to be published) and many articles about the
Holocaust. She was the first recipient of the Metropolitan Chrysostomos of
Zakynthos award (Washinghton D.C, 2011). Head of the Greek Delegetion
in IHRA, ITS-Bad-Arolsen and ESLI.
VAN BERGEN George
George van Bergen is Senior Policy Advisor at the Transatlantic Institute,
the Brussels office of the American Jewish Committee’s network of global
offices, working to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and to
advance human rights and democratic values for all. George van Bergen
deals with TAI's advocacy work on the EU's Middle East policy and he is
involved in TAI's efforts to increase the effectiveness of Europe’s policies
to combat anti-Semitism.
Before joining TAI, George van Bergen was a Dutch diplomat, serving in various capacities both in The
Hague and in mostly European postings, gaining experience with the workings of the European Union.
After retiring from the Foreign Service he has worked in several countries as consultant for international
trade and communication, joining TAI in 2014.
George van Bergen has a law degree from the University of Leyden, the Netherlands.
VAN DEN BRANDT Antonius
Ton van den Brandt (LL.M.) studied Dutch and International Law. He worked as
a journalist for many years and was the author of two published journalistic
books, before working as legal professional with the Dutch Red Cross and the
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2007 he started as a lobbyist for Amnesty
International. Currently, he is Head of the Department of Communications with
the Amsterdam District Court of Law. Also, he is the Vice-Chairman of NJCM,
the Dutch branch of the International Commission of Jurists.
VAN DER HAEGEN Antoine
Belgian. Has been a European Commission official
for 37 years. His last post was at the European
Delegation in Washington DC. Together with a British
and a French friend, has founded the European
Association of Free Thought (EAFT) in 2007. Its
members make their views heard both in Europe’s
civil society and in the Dialogue art. 17 of the treaty
of Lisbon .The EAFT campaigns to promote the
heritage of the Enlightenment and the separation of
church and state in the EU.
VAN DRIEL Barend
Barry van Driel was educated at universities in the Netherlands and the
United States. He holds a graduate degree in the Psychology of Culture
and Religion with a specialization in education. He joined the staff of the
Anne Frank House in 1992, where he is now international director for
teacher training and curriculum development. Barry has been the Editor in
Chief of the international academic journal Intercultural Education since
2000 and is currently Vice President of International Association for
Intercultural Education (IAIE). Barry has served as senior education
consultant to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) in Warsaw as well as a consultant to UNESCO and the FRA (Fundamental Rights Agency).
Since 2010 he has been a jury member of the prestigious United Nations-BMW Intercultural Innovation
awards and was appointed chair of the jury in 2003. He has edited books entitled: Confronting
Islamophobia in Educational Practice (London 2005) and Challenging Homophobia (with Lutz van
Dijk; London 2007), and has published more than a dozen academic articles and book chapters.
VAN GELDER Elisabeta
1947 Born in a DP camp in Linz, Austria, a child of holocaust
survivors;
1948 Smuggled in a luggage into Romania for adoption at age 10
month;
1948-66 Lived in Romania, city of Arad;
1966 Immigration to Israel;
1967-79 Lived in Canada (Montreal and Toronto)
1980- Married, living in Amsterdam
1994 Member of B’nai B’rith;
1997 I set up the committee for Central and Eastern Europe for humanitarian aid;
1998/99 Together with then the President of District 19, Bent Melchior, we applied and
received from the Dutch Government 1.200.000 DFL for humanitarian aid in 6
countries;
1998 Organized the exhibition of Documentation of History of the Jews of Bulgaria at the
Jewish History Museum, Amsterdam;
1999 Member of the executive committee of BBE (humanitarian aid to C. & E. E.)
2002 Started the project “Foster Grand Parent Plan, Romania” which is still running;
2007 Member of the committee for Central & Eastern Europe;
2008 Co-opted in the executive committee of B’nai B’rith Europe;
2011 Senior vice president B’nai B’rith Europe;
2012 Knighted in the Dutch Royal Order of Orange Nassau;
2012-13 “Bridges of Tolerance” opens in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia;
2014 Elected President of B’nai B’rith Europe;
2015 Award Ceremony at the Romanian Embassy in the Hague for The Romanian National
Order of Merit in the rank of Officer.
2015 Starting the project Bridges of Tolerance in Romania under the patronage of the
Minister of External Affairs and the Romanian Parliament, in collaboration with B’nai
B’rith Forum Dr. Moses Rosen , Romania;
2015 starting talks with Romanian government, Parliament and NGO representatives, for
the establishing of a new South-East European Center in Bucharest, for Combating
Intolerance and anti-Semitism.
3-5 June 2015, transnational project “Bridges of Tolerance” opens in Bucharest, Romania.
VAN RAEMDONCK Dan
Dan Van Raemdonck is a Doctor in Philosophy and Literature and a Professor
of French Linguistics at both Free Universities of Brussels. After years as a
militant with the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH, Frenchspeaking Belgium),
he served as its president from 2000 to 2006. He focused on denouncing
Belgian politicians guilty of discrimination in migration matters and economical
and social rights. He created and chaired the European Association for the
Defence of Human Rights (AEDH, 2000-2006). Since 2006, he has been
Honorary President of LDH and AEDH. He has been Vice-President of the International Federation for
human Rights (FIDH, 2007-2013) and is now Secretary General. At FIDH, he specialized in issues
relating to counter terrorism and death penalty.
VANHEUSDEN Alfons
Alfons Vanheusden studied law at K.U. Leuven & at University College
Galway.
He is also a graduate of the National Security Law Institute (University of
Virginia) & of the Hautes Etudes de Sécurité et Défense (Royal Higher
Institute for Defence & Egmont). Current position: Human rights advisor
(Cabinet of Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens). 2008-2014: Legal
advisor (Cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Defence). 1999-2008: Legal
advisor for international affairs (Ministry of Defence), including operational
service in Afghanistan & Lebanon. 2004-2013: Guest lecturer of public international law (Royal Higher
Institute for Defence & Royal Military Academy). 2003-2015: Assistant Secretary-General of the
International Society for Military Law and the Law of War. 1997-1998: Attorney-at-law (Bar of Tongeren).
VAZ Rosa
Degree in law and post-graduation in European Studies at the
Universidade Lusiado of Lisboa.
Practicing lawyer between 1993 and 2002, Advisor to the Minister of Culture
(1997), Advisor to the Under-State Secretary of the Ministry of Equipment,
Planning and Administration (1998-99). Between 1997 and 2002 law
consultant to several institutions in the cultural area, namely the Portuguese
Institute of Archeology and The Institute of Contemporary Arts.Chairman of
the General Assembly of APSS – Administration of the Ports of Setúbal and
Sesimbra, S.A. (1999-2001). Deputy-director of the Portuguese Institute of Archeology (IPA) in 2002,
and Vice-President of the Portuguese Institute of Historical Patrimony (IPPAR) between 2003 and 2005.
Advisor for Cultural Affairs and Human Resources of the City of Lisbon and Advisor of the Administrative
Committee of the City Council, between 2005 and 2007. Director of the Torres Novas Hospital at the
“Médio Tejo” Hospital Cluster (EPE) between 2008 and 2011. Member of the Board of Fudaçao de
Guimaraes , the organization that developed, implemented and managed the Guimaraes 2012
European Capital of Culture. Chief of Staff of the State Secretary of Justice since December 2013.
VON SCHNURBEIN Katharina
Katharina von Schnurbein (German) works for the European Commission in
DG Justice as Coordinator of the dialogue with churches, religious
associations or communities as well as philosophical and non-confessional
organisations. Before, she was Member of the Bureau of European Policy
advisors, advising the President and the Colleges (2010-2014),
spokesperson for Commissioner Vladimír Spidla, responsible for
Employment, Social affairs and Equal Opportunities (2004-2010) and press
officer at the Delegation of the European commission in Prague (2002-2004).
Her educational background includes studies of Political Science and
Slavonic Studies at the University of Bonn and Oxford University (Master,
1997) and a Master of European Studies from the Centre for European Integration Studies, Bonn (1999).
WARD Benjamin
Benjamin Ward, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and
Central Asia Division, supervises research on the EU region, the Western
Balkans, and Turkey. He writes regularly about human rights in Europe.
Before becoming deputy director, Ward researched Bosnia, Croatia, and
Kosovo for Human Rights Watch. Before joining the organization, Ward
worked for the United Nations in Somalia and New York, and in Bosnia
for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He was
admitted to practice as a barrister in England & Wales in 2003, and holds
a bachelor's in government from the London School of Economics and a master's in international affairs
from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
WARD Julie
Julie Ward is a Labour MEP for the North West of England. She
is also a writer, theatre-maker and cultural activist who began her
working life on the factory floor before becoming a community arts
worker. In 1984 she was appointed director of a regional arts and
disability organisation covering five counties in the North of
England and in 1986 she co-founded Jack Drum Arts, an artists'
cooperative that provides a wide range of activities for all sections of the community.In May 2014 she
was elected a Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) to represent the NW of England. She
is a member of the parliament’s committees on Culture and Education, Regional Development as well
as the Women rights' and Gender Equality Committee. She's a board member of the European Internet
Forum, and a founding member of the European Caucus of Women in Parliament - a global forum. Julie
is a children's rights champion, having co-founded the European Parliament cross-party and cross-
committee intergroup on Children's Rights. She is also active on a number of other intergroups including
Disability, Youth, Common Goods & Public Services, Creative Industries, LGBTI, Anti-Poverty, Trade
Unions and Social Economy. She is now on the Labour Party’s Children and Education Policy
Commission as a European Parliament Labour Party representative, as well a Culture and Education
committee representative to the inter-committee network on the implementation of the UN Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
She was named North East Woman Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003 and has served on the
board of Culture North East and Arts Council England as well as being a school governor. In 2009 she
decided to go to university and study for a Master's in Education and International Development,
graduating in 2012. Julie is a Churchill Fellow and has travelled and worked all around the world with a
particular focus on Europe and neighbouring countries. She sits on the Citizen’s Panel of Durham
University, the executive board of National Drama and is a volunteer for the Institute of Ideas national
youth debating competition.
WOOD Keith Porteous
Keith Porteous Wood has been the executive director of the National
Secular Society (NSS) since 1998. Keith has made major
contributions to legislation on equality, education, blasphemy,
freedom of expression, constitutional, home affairs, justice and racial
and religious hatred at a UK and European level. He is a member of
the advisory board of the European Parliament Platform for
Secularism in Politics. Keith has worked on the UN Geneva team of the International Humanist & Ethical
Union and was on the EU Fundamental Rights Agency advisory board in Vienna.
In 2007 Keith received the Distinguished Service to Humanism Award from the International Humanist
and Ethical Union for his work building up the NSS and campaigning for secularism nationally and
internationally.
ZACCHIROLI Benedetto
President of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism ECCAR (since 2015). Person in charge of
the Candidature of Bologna's Porticoes at the Unesco World Heritage Centre (since 2015). Councillor
of the Metropolitan City of Bologna (since 2014)Bologna City. Councillor (since 2011)Advisor on Cultural
Affairs at the City of Fortaleza (2009-2010)Mayor's Advisor for Foreign Affairs of the City of Bologna
(2004-2009). University degree in Theology at the Pontifical University of S. Thomas Aquinas, Rome
(Vatican)
ZINSMEISTER Stefan
Stefan Zinsmeister, born 1981, is member of the executive
committee of the Eugen Biser Foundation located in Munich,
Germany. He studied Catholic Theology, Islamic Studies and
Arabic literature. Like the foundation, he is very much engaged
in the interreligious dialogue, especially between Christians and
Muslims.
ZOBERI Mansour
Mansour Zoberi, Director of promotion of Diversity and Solidarity in the
Casino Supermarket Group. Au sein du Groupe Casino, Mansour s’occupe
notamment des partenariats nationaux avec les ministères sur la Politique
de la Ville, la Prévention des discriminations, la Diversité et les
engagements sociétaux dans le cadre de la RSE. Sociologue, il a conduit
pour le compte de Casino, avec leurs partenaires sociaux et des
administrations centrales, diverses études et accords sur la lutte contre les
discriminations, l’égalité des chances et la promotion de la diversité qui font
références sur le plan national. Mansour est membre du Collège Lutte
contre les discriminations du Défenseur des Droits.