Mr. William O’Neill, High Commissioner’s Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti

Mr. William O’Neill (United States of America) is the expert on human rights in Haiti designated by the High Commissioner.

Mr. O’Neill is a lawyer specialized in humanitarian, human rights, and refugee law, with a focus on the rule of law in post-conflict situations. His career includes roles as senior advisor on human rights for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and as chief of the UN Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda. He helped establish the Haitian National Police in 1995.

Mr. O’Neill has been involved in judicial, police, and prison reform in Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, East Timor, Nepal, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The expert teaches Human Rights Law at the Global Campus for Human Rights in Venice and the Scuola Sant’Anna in Pisa. He has chaired the United Nation’s Task Force on Rule of Law Strategies for Peace Operations and has published extensively on rule of law and peacekeeping. He has also advised European ministries and testified before the U.S. Congress on human rights issues.