Evin Bağdu Hanish is an international human rights lawyer who began her professional law practice in Istanbul in 2003, focusing on criminal defense, media and cultural freedoms, and pro-bono work for women and children. A member of the Istanbul Bar Association, Evin worked for seven years as an attorney-at-law in the Bar Association’s public defender program. She received certifications in Women’s Rights and Domestic Violence Law from the Bar, and focused on these areas of legal assistance in pro bono work as well. Evin has worked for years with Kurdish media, non-governmental organizations, and scholars researching Kurdish issues. She has participated in Kurdish media herself, both as a broadcaster and legal advisor, with Avesta Publishing House, Kurd-1 Satellite Television, Z Production Studios, Voice of America Kurdish Service, and Rudaw-Istanbul. Evin also has significant experience in missing persons issues, serving as the Iraq Program Coordinator for the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) from 2009-2011, focusing primarily on building institutional capacity in identification of missing persons from the Anfal Genocide. Evin holds a Master’s of Law (LL.M.) degree from the George Washington University Law School in General Law, and a Bachelor’s of Law from Istanbul University Law Faculty. She has pursued additional graduate studies in intellectual property law at the George Washington University, and holds a Certificate in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.
Evin speaks Kurdish, English, Turkish, and some Arabic and Serbo-Croatian. She is a native of Diyarbakir.