About Us

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Meet our Executive Director Andrew Fandino. 

Andrew Fandino is the Founder and Executive Director of Advocates for Political Prisoners. He brings with him over 28 years of professional experience in the human rights field. During this time he has helped to release dozens of political prisoners from around the world. Recognized as a leading expert on political prisoners and human rights defenders, Andrew has led countless advocacy campaigns for those facing arbitrary detention and other human rights violations.
 

This work has included high level meetings with the US Congress, the State Department, the White House, the UN system, regional bodies like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and Foreign Governments.
 
Prior to Founding Advocates for Political Prisoners, Mr. Fandino was the Advocacy Director for the Individuals at Risk Program at Amnesty International USA for over eight years, where he led all the organizations lobbying work on cases of prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders, and individuals at risk of human rights violations.
 

Before that Andrew worked for such organizations as the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, the Burma Border Projects, Human Rights Watch, Peace Brigades International, and the U.S. Office on Colombia. He also spent five years living and working in Southeast Asia, where he created his own NGO called the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.
 

He has a Master’s degree in International Affairs with a Specialization in Human Rights in Latin America from American University and Bachelor’s degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.