Clément Nyaletsossi Voule was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association and took up his functions in April 2018.
Mr. Voule is a jurist and human rights defender with over 30 years of experience promoting human rights in Africa and across the world. He was an Expert Member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights from 2011 to 2020. He also is a research fellow at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
Prior to his appointment, he was Advocacy Director for Africa at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), where he also led ISHR’s program to support human rights defenders working in States in transition. He served as Secretary-general of Amnesty International Togo (2000 – 2006). He is also a founding member of the West African Human Rights Defenders Network.
Over the years, he has advised a number of international, regional and national entities on human rights issues. Most notably, he has extensive experience engaging with the UN and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to strengthen their work protecting human rights defenders and fundamental freedoms.
Mr. Voule has a Law degree from the University of Benin, Togo. He holds a Masters degree in Fundamental Rights from Nantes University in France, and a Masters Diploma in International Law in Armed Conflict from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.