Frank William La Rue

Frank La Rue
Stockholm Internet Forum 2015
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
In office August 2008 – July 2014
Preceded by	Ambeyi Ligabo
Succeeded by	David Kaye
Personal details
Born	1952 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Alma mater	Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala Johns Hopkins University
Website	caldh.org OHCHR Special Rapporteur

Frank La Rue (born in 1952) is a Guatemalan labor and human rights law expert and served as UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, from August 2008 to August 2014. Along with American Human Rights attorneys, Anna Gallagher and Wallie Mason, Mr. La Rue is the founder of the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH) and has been involved in the promotion of human rights for over 25 years. He was nominated for (but did not win) the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize by Mairead Corrigan, Northern Irish peace activist and 1976 laureate. Mr La Rue was previously the Executive Director of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Europe. He currently serves as Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO.

La Rue was born in El Salvador. Born legally blind, he nevertheless enrolled in and graduated from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala with a law degree. La Rue served as legal adviser to the Central General de Trabajadores de Guatemala, the country's largest labor federation, from 1975 to 1980, during which time he had occasion to defend numerous labor union personnel and clergymen amid the country's worsening Civil War. He was consequently marked for death, and in 1981 he and his family sought exile in the United States. He served until 1989 as attorney and political analyst for numerous Guatemalan political exiles, including Rigoberta Menchú (1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate), and in 1990 co-founded the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH). LaRue obtained a postgraduate degree in U.S. foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University in 1985.

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