Ida Sawyer
Ida Sawyer is Central Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. She had been based in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 2008, first in Goma and, since 2011, in the capital Kinshasa. In August 2016, Congolese authorities barred Ida from continuing to work in the country, following a series of Human Rights Watch publications on political repression. She is now based in Brussels, where she oversees Human Rights Watch’s work on Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Central African Republic. Ida has conducted research across Congo and in areas of northern Congo and neighbouring countries affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and her research has been integral to numerous Human Rights Watch reports. She also conducts high level advocacy with Congolese officials and international actors as well as outreach with local civil society groups. Ida came to Human Rights Watch from Cairo, where she had worked as a freelance journalist. Her previous experience in Africa’s Great Lakes region includes work for Care International and the Charity for Peace Foundation in Northern Uganda, as well as research in Congo on the cross-border dynamics of natural resource exploitation. Ida holds a Masters in international affairs, specialising in human rights, from Columbia University.
Videos
Articles Authored
- Dispatches
- Statement
UN Security Council Should Act on Congo
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Reports Authored
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“We Will Force You to Confess”
Torture and Unlawful Military Detention in Rwanda
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Always on the Run
The Vicious Cycle of Displacement in Eastern Congo
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Trail of Death
LRA Atrocities in Northeastern Congo
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"You Will Be Punished"
Attacks on Civilians in Eastern Congo
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Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone
Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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The Christmas Massacres
LRA attacks on Civilians in Northern Congo