Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division, Human Rights Watch

Rachel Denber is deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch. Prior to her current post, Denber was the head of Human Rights Watch's Moscow office from 1992–1997. She has written about and traveled widely throughout Russia, the southern Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Baltic states.

Board Member and Project Officer, Reliance

Gistam Sakaeva is a board member and project officer of the Chechnya-based women’s organization Reliance. Under her leadership, Reliance has been running bold and far-reaching programs for women in Chechnya, in areas like income-generation, psychological help for victims of rape during war and campaigns against gender-based violence. Her work has been recognized by the International Rescue Committee’s Women’s Commission, which selected Sakaeva to receive its 2008 Voices of Courage Award. Before working with Reliance, Sakaeva had a decade-long career with international humanitarian aid organizations in the North Caucasus including Care, Doctors Without Borders and Handicap International.