Sheila B. Keetharuth, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea

Ms. Sheila B. Keetharuth from Mauritius was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea in October 2012.
Sheila B. Keetharuth  has worked and travelled in Africa for over two and a half decades and brings extensive experience in the area of human rights, including research, advocacy, litigation and training. She has also worked as a broadcaster for over eight years on the African continent.

After obtaining an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law and Civil Liberties at the University of Leicester (UK), she was called to the Bar in Mauritius in January 1997. In July 2002, she joined Amnesty International as a Researcher at the Africa Regional Office in Kampala, Uganda, and acted as the Interim Head of Office until December 2005. From November 2006 to June 2012, Sheila B. Keetharuth was the Executive Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), a pan-African NGO based in Banjul, The Gambia. She is currently enrolled as a part-time doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

In 2011, the Madrid Bar Association awarded Sheila B. Keetharuth a Medal of Honour for her human rights work on the African continent.