Human Rights Attorney | International Law Advisor | Speaker & Writer
Yerevan, Armenia
Joined September 2023
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Today, October 30, is the International Day of Political Prisoners. I call on the government of #Rwanda to release @VictoireUmuhoza, a leading opposition figure and advocate for democratic reform. She has been arbitrarily detained since June 2025 and is now on trial on false, politically motivated charges. The prosecution is seeking a life sentence for her.
As one of Victoire’s international counsel and an advocate for her freedom, I ask people and governments everywhere to raise her case and call for her release.
#PoliticalPrisonersDay #FreedomStartsWithAName #FreeVictoireIngabire
@HRF @NEDemocracy @3Ooctober @LantosFndn @4freerussia_org @McCainInstitute @TheRWCHR @WLCongress @freedomhouse
Sheila Paylan retweeted
After a lifetime of relationships and a fear of being alone, @SheilaPaylan is discovering that solitude can be liberating, even thrilling. She explores what happens when you stop looking for someone to complete your life.evnreport.com/columns/my-lon…
Sheila Paylan retweeted
On October 30, 2026 Ms Raïssa Ujeneza, the daughter of Ms Ingabire Umuhoza, attended the Roll Call for Freedom, a ceremony honouring political prisoners organised by the 30 October Coalition and the National Endowment for Democracy, held in Washington, D.C. During the event, members of the public gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to honour political prisoners and those working for their freedom. Participants read out the names of prisoners from countries around the world to ensure that their stories were heard in the heart of the nation’s capital. Ms Ujeneza also spoke about her mother.
She described her as a capable leader and a strong, determined advocate for human rights, drawing much of her strength from her faith. However, since her re-arrest in June last year, she has been denied the right to attend church services with other prisoners. Despite all this, she continues to dedicate herself to creating a better future for Rwanda. Ms Ujeneza ended her speech by saying: “I am here to tell everyone: Mum, you are not alone.”
#Rwanda #PoliticalPrisonersDay #FreedomStartsWithAName #FreeVictoireIngabire
Sheila Paylan retweeted
“…the NBA's deepening relationship with #Rwanda risks the league becoming complicit in sportswashing … where governments or companies use sports to distract from human rights abuses, corruption and other activities.”
espn.com/nba/story/_/id/5028…
Sheila Paylan retweeted
#Sagarmanthan2026 | Who benefits from the #BlueEconomy, and who bears its costs?
Uz. Fayyaz Ismail, @jellsmoor, @TeenahJutton, Deepak Shetty, Yoon Jae Ro and @SheilaPaylan examine #BlueJustice, from the challenges facing Small Island Developing States and maritime corruption to environmental disasters and the protection of coastal livelihoods.
Watch 👉 youtube.com/watch?v=rwZvhKor…
Sheila Paylan retweeted
My first piece in @ForeignPolicy was published today. I argue that the recent tensions between Azerbaijan and Turkey run deeper than the hijab-ban protests or Baku's relations with Israel. At their core is the more fundamental issue of sovereignty.
foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/23…
Sheila Paylan retweeted
Western governments face a problem of hypocrisy in Azerbaijan: they seek deeper ties with President Ilham Aliyev’s authoritarian government while he imprisons pro-Western democrats. trib.al/yCsPezu
Sheila Paylan retweeted
In awarding this year’s #NobelPeacePrize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law – national and international – underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently. Peace requires justice.
History has shown that a world operating without the rule of law is unjust, unwise and inhumane. The judges – those who guard the thin red line between order and chaos – are therefore highly deserving of our praise. But today, as these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked, we need people of courage, vision and determination – qualities that 2026 peace laureate Navi Pillay demonstrates in her work on the bench.
#NobelPrize
When your former boss wins the Nobel Peace Prize, you know you’re in the right line of work.
Congratulations, Judge Pillay ✨
BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPeacePrize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
#NobelPrize
Sheila Paylan retweeted
Former German intelligence head was spying for Azerbaijan. Two former German MPs were previously prosecuted for taking bribes from AZ. These are hostile acts.
But it doesn't matter, because according to Merz and Von der Leyen, AZ remains Germany's trusted energy partner.
Sheila Paylan retweeted
@SheilaPaylan: Ocean governance is ultimately about people as much as resources. From coastal communities and maritime workers to developing states, a just ocean future requires participation, accountability and institutions capable of addressing deep structural inequalities.
#Sagarmanthan2026 #GreatOceansDialogue
Sheila Paylan retweeted
🌊 Sagarmanthan 2026: Blue Justice Panel 🇲🇻
During the "Blue Justice: Reimagining Equity in Ocean Futures" panel, moderator @SheilaPaylan asked former Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail Faya @faya_i a critical question..!?
During his time in government, how did he balance investments that promised economic growth but raised concerns for local communities, and how was it decided if they should proceed?
#Faya highlighted that the Maldives has survived as an ocean economy from time immemorial, practicing the most sustainable form of fishing in the world.
However, he pointed out serious ongoing issues:
Competing Interests: There is growing friction between tourism development and local fishers, particularly when fishers lose access to reefs needed for catching bait.
Climate Realities: Because of severe climate change impacts like floods and tidal waves, the Maldives is forced to do more land reclamation and dredging, which unfortunately leads to the loss of marine habitats.
International Injustice: He called out the hypocrisy of the international system. While the Maldives catches fish one-by-one sustainably (pole and line), they are punished by international quotas and lose their market advantage because certifications (like MSC) are now given to countries using destructive purse seine nets.
His ultimate message: Small island nations are catching fish sustainably, yet they are left behind with less quota, lower prices, and are forced to bear the massive environmental and economic costs of a climate crisis they did not create.
#Sagarmanthan2026 #BlueJustice #OceanEconomy #Maldives
@MDPSecretariat
@MDPYouth
@MohamedNasheed
@HassanLatheef – at New Delhi, India
Sheila Paylan retweeted
Plenary 6 | Blue Justice: Reimagining Equity in Ocean Futures
Featuring: @faya_i, @jellsmoor, @TeenahJutton, Deepak Shetty, @yoonj_ro, @SheilaPaylan @KRTribunal
#Sagarmanthan2026 #GreatOceansDialogue
Sheila Paylan retweeted
Azerbaijan has a long history of bribing European officials to buy tolerance of its severe repression. trib.al/2dRvp45
Sheila Paylan retweeted
So Azerbaijan is reportedly behind the corruption of the former German intelligence chief. When will Europe wake up to Azerbaijan as not just a source of oil but also a dictatorship that uses unseemly means including repression to retain power? trib.al/ZsaGToQ
Sheila Paylan retweeted
After meeting a man in Artsakh who vowed never to leave, @SheilaPaylan feared he had died when 100,000 Armenians fled Karabakh in 2023. A fallen wheat wreath makes her reconsider what it means to keep a promise, love a homeland and choose to survive.evnreport.com/columns/search…
See how easy it is to do that?
Now why not sanction those who joined Azerbaijan’s most recent propaganda tour of ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh and happily laughed along as Hikmet Hajiyev grotesquely humiliated its forcibly displaced indigenous Armenians?
UK sanctions Tbilisi Mayor’s brother-in-law and others over trip to Russian-occupied Donetsk
🔗 Read more: oc-media.org/uk-sanctions-tb…
Sheila Paylan retweeted
EXCLU!! German Chancellor Merz has sealed a deal to secure the release of Azerbaijani anti-corruption advocate Gubad Ibadoghlu, two people with knowledge of the matter told me.
I was pleased to see that Dr. Gubad Ibadoghlu was released by the Azerbaijani government after being detained for more than three years.
In July, I sent a letter with a bipartisan group of colleagues demanding the release of Dr. Ibadoghlu so he could be reunited with his family and receive urgent medical treatment.