Welcome to the English page of Fabio de Sa e Silva, Brazilian candidate to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for the 2026–2029 term. This page provides an overview of his candidacy, professional background, and platform.
Fabio de Sa e Silva has dedicated more than two decades to the promotion and protection of human rights, focusing on people in situations of exclusion and vulnerability. His career spans public service, international consulting, and academic research in Brazil and abroad.
He served in key positions at the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, where he led initiatives for the rights of persons deprived of liberty, including the "Educating for Freedom" project, which established the first federal policy for education in prisons. He also worked to secure voting rights for pretrial detainees and dignified treatment for incarcerated women.
As a researcher at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), he authored landmark studies such as the "Map of the Public Defender's Office," which inspired constitutional amendments to expand access to justice. He also served as a consultant for UNDP, UNESCO, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), and the IACHR itself, contributing to the 2019 report on the Situation of Human Rights in Brazil.
He holds a Ph.D. in Law, Policy, and Society from Northeastern University (2013), a Master of Laws from the University of Brasília, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Law School (2015). He is currently a professor at the University of Oklahoma, where he founded a center for Brazil-US academic exchange. He has also been elected Trustee of the Law & Society Association and will serve as President of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) for the 2026–2028 term.
His platform for the IACHR emphasizes the indivisibility of human rights, the centrality of the right to development, the strengthening of friendly settlements, and the need for legal certainty and dialogue among states, civil society, and the Commission. He is committed to preserving the Commission’s autonomy, ensuring transparency, and promoting accessibility for all persons in the Americas.
The official launch of his candidacy took place in Brasília in May 2025, with the support of the Brazilian government. His candidacy was also presented to governments and civil society during a mission to Washington, D.C., and has received broad coverage in Brazilian and international media.
For more detailed information (in Portuguese), please visit the main page.