Academic Team

Our Academic Team

Claudia Martin

Co-Director
Professorial Lecturer in Residence

Claudia Martin is a Professor-in-Residence and Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law. She earned her law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and her LL.M. from American University Washington College of Law. She is a founder and member of the Secretariat of GQUAL, as well as a founder and coordinator of the Strategic Litigation Network on Gender Violence (ReLeG). She has served as an expert in international cases and was an editor for the *Oxford Reports on International Human Rights Law*. She is also a member of the editorial board for the *Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts*. Professor Martin has been a visiting professor at numerous universities around the world. She teaches international law, comparative and international human rights, and the Inter-American Human Rights System at AUWCL, and is co-author of several books in these fields.

Cristina Sunkel

Cristina Sunkel is an Adjunct Professor at American University Washington College of Law and Coordinator of the LL.M. Program in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the same institution. She holds a law degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile and earned her LL.M. degrees in International Law from Georgetown University. She has worked at PwC, Arnold & Porter, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank, and the Embassy of Chile in Washington, DC. Her experience also includes work with nonprofit organizations in the areas of forced labor and workforce development.

Pablo Saavedra

Pablo Saavedra Alessandri is Secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights since 2004. He is a lawyer graduated from Diego Portales University in Chile and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Notre Dame. He previously served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Court and as a lawyer for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In Chile, he worked as a lawyer for the National Corporation for Reparation and Reconciliation, where he was responsible for investigations into human rights violations. He has been an Adjunct Professor at American University Washington College of Law since 2016, as well as at several other universities, where he teaches various topics related to international human rights law. Professor Saavedra has delivered numerous lectures around the world and has published significant articles. He holds a law degree from Diego Portales University in Chile and an LL.M. from the University of Notre Dame.

María Fabiola Cantú

María Fabiola Cantú is a Lawyer from the National University of Cuyo (Argentina). She was recognized by the Argentine Federation of Women as the top graduate in Law. She holds an LL.M. in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from American University Washington College of Law. She also earned a Diploma in Human Rights with Honors from Universidad Austral (Argentina), and a Diploma in the International Defense of Human Rights from the Legal Practice School of the University of Zaragoza (Spain). She specializes in advising and litigating on human rights and business-related matters.

Lucas E. Gómez

Lucas E. Gómez is a Lawyer from the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences at the University of Mendoza. He holds a Diploma in Environmental Law and International Institutions, and an LL.M. in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from American University Washington College of Law. He has extensive experience in international human rights litigation before the Inter-American Human Rights System and the United Nations system, participating in cases involving business and human rights in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador.

He has served as a permanent consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, advising Argentina’s Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development on the development of sustainable production and business competitiveness programs. He litigates before UN forums and the Inter-American Human Rights System.

He also has broad experience litigating before OECD National Contact Points in Canada, Peru, Argentina, Finland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.