Katya Salazar

Peru | Executive Director, Due Process of Law Foundation

Katya Salazar is a Peruvian attorney and has worked at DPLF since 2004. After having worked as Programs Director, she assumed control of the direction of the organization in 2009. Since then, she has promoted a greater involvement of DPLF into the new challenges presented to the region. Under her leadership, DPLF created the human rights and extractive industries program, and the organization became involved in the defense of the inter-American system of human rights. Katya has authored various articles and has lead several conferences on the topics in which she specializes, representing DPLF in Latin America and the world. Her current activities primarily focus on judicial independence, inter-American law, the rights of indigenous peoples, access to justice, and transitional justice.

Before joining the DPLF team, Katya was the Adjunct Coordinator of the Special Investigations Unit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Peru, where she was in charge of investigating grave human rights violations that occurred during the armed conflict in that country. She was also part of the legal team of the Coalition Against Impunity (Nuremberg, Germany) prepared and promoted official German denunciation and criminal procedure against members of the Argentinian military for their involvement in the disappearance of German citizens during the Argentinian dictatorship.

Katya studied law at the Catholic University of Peru and has a Masters in German Law and International Public Law from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1997, she was the Latin American Legal Fellow for the International Human Rights Law Group (now called Global Rights), where she carried out investigations and human rights-related activities before the Organization of American States (OAS).

Salazar was an event speaker at the Dialogue.