02 April 2019
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Nicholas Koumjian of the United States of America as Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.
Mr. Koumjian will be the first Head of the Myanmar Mechanism, which was established by the Human Rights Council on 27 September 2018, and welcomed by the General Assembly on 22 December 2018.
Mr. Koumjian brings to this position over 35 years of experience as Prosecutor, including almost 20 years of experience in the field of international criminal justice. Since November 2013, he has been serving as the International Co-Prosecutor for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Mr. Koumjian previously served as Trial Attorney at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as Deputy General Prosecutor for serious crimes in Timor-Leste, as International Prosecutor in the War Crimes Section of the Prosecutor’s Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as Principal Trial Attorney and Senior Appeals Counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In addition, he also worked as a Prosecutor in the United States of America and has professional experience in the fields of international human rights law and transitional justice.
Mr. Koumjian holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina and a Masters of Business Administration from UCLA.
View this original announcement Here.
28 February 2025
Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions , CSO Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institution (Burma/Myanmar)
Progressive Voice is a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organization rooted in civil society, that maintains strong networks and relationships with grassroots organizations and community-based organizations throughout Myanmar. It acts as a bridge to the international community and international policymakers by amplifying voices from the ground, and advocating for a rights-based policy narrative.