A homage to Anne Ramberg, whose tenure as IBAHRI Co-Chair has ended

Anne Ramberg Dr Jur hc (Supplied)

With the stepping down of Anne Ramberg Dr Jur hc (pictured) as Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), we reflect on her contribution to the IBAHRI over the course of her six-year tenure from 2019-2024. Anne left office on 31 December 2024.

As an ardent defender of human rights, Anne’s decades-long experience in the legal arena provided the IBAHRI with a recognised and respected voice that was added to many initiatives including numerous statements and intervention letters on a wide range of global humanitarian issues. Although it is not possible to mention them all, they include:

• in 2019, the restriction of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni’s freedoms in Venezuela, The Gambia’s historic genocide case against Myanmar and the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum in the Netherlands;
• in 2020, the large-scale military offensive of Azerbaijan into Nagorno Karabakh, the harassment and intimidation of lawyers in Belarus and attacks against Malawi’s judiciary by former President Peter Mutharika;
• in 2021, the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban (and subsequently, in 2024, the Taliban’s travel ban on the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan), the conviction of Rwandan dissident Paul Rusesabagina and the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran;

• in 2022, Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and the overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States;
• in 2023, Hong Kong’s national security law and arrest warrants for overseas pro-democracy figures, the attacks on Gaza and the recognition of the Yazidi Genocide by the United Kingdom government; and, most recently
• in 2024, the arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya and the death of her husband Alexei Navalny, Julian Assange’s release from prison, the appointment by the Supreme Court of the Philippines of IBAHRI as Amicus Curiae in Maria Ressa’s cyber libel case, the arbitrary arrest and detention of Palestinian human rights lawyer Diala Ayesh and the use of nitrogen hypoxia as a tool of execution in Alabama, United States.

A strong advocate for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, Anne praised actions in the Central African Republic, Colorado, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea and Zambia.

In addition to her contribution to the IBAHRI, Anne has held several positions at the International Bar Association (IBA), including Co-Chair of the IBA Rule of Law Action Group, member of the IBA Nominations Committee and Council Member of the IBAHRI Trust. She is also a Trustee of the IBA-founded eyeWitness to Atrocities app and organisation, and has acted as representative of the Swedish Bar Association at the IBA Council, the governing body of the IBA.

After graduating with a law degree (LLB) from Stockholm University in 1976, Anne was a practising lawyer until 2000, when she was appointed Secretary General of the Swedish Bar Association, a position she held for twenty years. Over the course of her stellar career, Anne has served in a number of senior roles in her native country of Sweden, including on the Ethics Advisory Council of the National Police Board, the Swedish Press Council, the Advisory Council of the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, the Appeal Board for Aid for Credit Institutions and the Council on Basic Values established by the Swedish government. In addition, Anne has served as a board member of the Swedish law library, Juridiska biblioteket, the Micael Bindefeld Foundation in Memory of the Holocaust and legal research foundation Emil Heijnes stiftelse för rättsvetenskaplig forskning. She has also worked for the board of the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative Institute (CEELI Institute) and acted as a council member and treasurer of the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC).

Throughout her career, Anne has held a number of positions that reflect her long-standing passion for upholding and advancing human rights. As well as serving on Stockholm University’s board, Anne is a former Chair of the University’s Stockholm Centre for the Rights of the Child. She has also been a member of the board of Civil Rights Defenders, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute and the IBA-founded Southern Africa Litigation Centre. She is also Vice Chair of Stiftelsen Skogssällskapet, a non-profit foundation that works for the sustainable development of forests and land.

In recognition of her dedication to the legal profession, Anne has received numerous accolades, including being granted the distinction Juris Doctor Honoris Causa at Uppsala University, Sweden, and being awarded His Majesty the King’s Medal for her ‘distinguished contribution to the Swedish Judicial System’. In 2018, she was appointed honorary member of ILAC, and during the Stockholm Human Rights Award ceremony she was surprised with the IBA’s Award for ‘extraordinary leadership in promoting human rights and the rule of law throughout the world’. In 2019, Anne was awarded the Finnish Administrative Supreme Courts medal for her work on behalf of the Nordic bar associations and international human rights. She received the Kerstin Hesselgren Prize in the same year.

On a personal level, Anne has been an invaluable member of the IBAHRI Council and constant supporter of the IBAHRI secretariat, especially evident in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the IBAHRI’s 25th anniversary. Her international stature and steadfast presence will be sorely missed by everyone who worked with her. We wish her all the very best for her future endeavours.

Mark Stephens CBE, IBAHRI Co-Chair
Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC, IBAHRI Director

ENDS

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Notes to the reader:

1. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous entity working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.