Thomas Becker

Thomas Becker is a Lecturer in Law at Columbia University's School of Law and Senior Clinical Supervisor at the University Network for Human Rights. He has dedicated two decades to international human rights work, notably leading the Mamani v. Sánchez de Lozada lawsuit, the first successful human rights case against a living former head of state in the U.S., and securing genocide convictions in Bolivia's Supreme Court. His work spans investigations into torture in India and Western Sahara, war crimes in Lebanon and Nagorno-Karabakh, land rights in South Africa and Palestine, and exposing death squads in Honduras and Colombia.

Previously, he served as a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic. His book Coup: A Story of Violence and Resistance in Bolivia (co-authored with Linda Farthing) was a finalist for the Duke University Juan E. Mendez Book Award. He teaches courses on human rights in the Americas and actively engages with the Inter-American human rights system.

• Key Achievements:
• Mamani v. Sánchez de Lozada lawsuit
• Bolivian Supreme Court genocide convictions
• Collaboration with global media including The New York Times and BBC

Outside law, Becker is an award-winning musician and mountaineer, having summited Mount Everest.