The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual prize sponsored by the Academy, aiming to stimulate the production of academic articles in the field of international human rights law. Lawyers from around the world submit valuable academic pieces that become fundamental in promoting knowledge and education in human rights, becoming an essential tool for its strengthening.

The theme for the 2024 award is: "Protection and Guarantee of Human Rights in Digital Environments." The Academy selected this theme as it is at the center of debates regarding the promotion and protection of human rights. Despite this, compared to other areas of International Human Rights Law, its development is still in its early stages. It is undeniable that our lives unfold to a greater or lesser extent in digital environments, and this can imply significant advances in various areas of development. Still, at the same time, they directly impact people's lives. In that sense, special attention must be paid to safeguarding human rights that are often affected or limited in this new context. Debates on privacy, access to information, security, journalism, censorship, and how these affect differentially vulnerable groups are some critical issues to consider.

We invite you to meet the outstanding minds that make up our Honor Jury, who shape the human rights and digital rights discourse daily, whose task is to choose the winning essay and honorable mentions:

• Nighat Dad - Pakistani attorney, Founder & Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation (ENG).
•  Agustina del Campo - Argentinian attorney, Director of the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression (CELE) (ENG).
•  Ina Jost - Brazilian Attorney, Head of Research on Freedom of Expression at InternetLab, a leading Brazilian think tank (ENG).
•  Sandra Coliver - US international human rights lawyer, a trailblazer in freedom of expression, information, assembly, and association (ENG).
•  Kathryn Kleiman - US Attorney, Co-Founder of Noncommercial Users Constituency at ICANN, Senior Policy Fellow at American University Washington College of Law (ENG).
•  Eduardo Bertoni - Argentinian attorney, Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law Director, AUWCL, Former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (ENG).
•  Claudia Martin - Co-Director, Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law (ENG).

•  Edison Lanza – Uruguayan attorney and former Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Expression for the IACHR (ESP).
•  Carolina Botero - Colombian attorney and Director of the Colombian Karisma Foundation (ESP).
•  Damián Loreti - Argentinian attorney y académico especializado en libertad de expresión (ESP).
•  Pedro Vaca Villarreal - Colombian attorney y and Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Expression for the IACHR (ESP).
•  Catalina Botero - Colombian attorney, co-chair of Facebook's Oversight Board and former Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Expression for the IACHR (ESP).
•  Mariela Antoniazzi Morales - Venezuelan attorney and research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (ESP).
•  Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón - Co-Director, Academia de Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario, American University Washington College of Law (ESP).

By Tatiana Bances Lange and Gabriel Ortiz Crespo