J.S.D. Students

Soledad Bertelsen (Chile/ Spain)
Ms. Bertelsen earned her LL.B. from the Universidad de los Andes (Santiago de Chile) in 2008 and her LL.M. from Harvard Law School in 2011. Ms. Bertelsen has worked as an intern at the Human Rights Office (Judicial Service Commission, Government of Chile) and taught “Introduction to Human Rights” at the Universidad de los Andes Law School. She has also collaborated with CLADH (Centro Latinoamericano de Derechos Humanos), a Latin-American NGO. Her doctoral studies focus on the role of domestic jurisdictions in the interpretation of international human rights instruments, with special attention to the European and Inter-American systems.

Pablo Gonzalez Dominguez (Mexico)
Mr. Gonzalez earned his LL.B. from Universidad Panamericana in 2009 (Aguascalientes, Mexico) and his LL.M. with certification in International Human Rights Law from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2011 as a Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholar. While studying his first law degree Pablo studied a Specialization in Advanced, Social, Economic and Political Studies by the Phoenix Institute at the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 2007. From 2007 to 2009 he participated at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. During his senior year at Universidad Panamericana he co-founded the Institute of Access to Justice, a Public Interest Law Firm devoted to the protection of human rights in his hometown. Mr. Gonzalez also Interned at the Center for Justice and International Law (San Jose, Costa Rica) where he engaged in litigation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. His doctoral studies focus on the implementation of international human rights norms and standards by municipal judiciaries, with a regional focus on Latin America.

Mirakmal Niyazmatov (Uzbekistan)
Mr. Niyazmatov joined the J.S.D. program in 2008. He earned his Bachelor of Laws from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in 2004 (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and his LL.M. from Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights in 2007. During his university studies, he extensively participated and coached several teams for various regional and international competitions on international law, including the Jessup Moot Court Competition and the Jean Pictet Competition on International Humanitarian Law. He interned at the International Committee of the Red Cross working on the ratification/implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC and worked as a Human Rights Assistant at the United Nations Development Program in Uzbekistan. After obtaining his LL.M., he interned for six month at the Amnesty International UN Office in New York. Mirakmal’s main fields of interest/research lie in the areas of freedom of expression, treaty interpretation, implementation of international law norms, definition of torture, and the admissibility of evidence obtained by coercion.

Pier Paolo Pigozzi Sandoval (Ecuador)
Mr. Pigozzi earned his LL.B from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (2006) and his LL.M. in International Human Rights Law, magna cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School (2010). Mr. Pigozzi has worked with refugees in Ecuador at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and at the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and conducted several workshops and conferences on international refugee law, human rights, and constitutional law. He has, in addition, lectured on the refugee definition within the Cartagena Declaration at Universidad San Francisco (Quito). His J.S.D. research area is the transformation of the Latin America tradition on human rights in the recent constitutional modifications of that region.

Simon M. Weldehaimanot (Eritrea)
Mr. Weldehaimanot joined the J.S.D. program in 2009. He earned his LL.B. in 2003 from the University of Asmara. He then worked as a lawyer for a governmental department. In 2006, Simon obtained his LL.M. in human rights and democratization in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. After earning his LL.M., Simon worked for 18 months as a TMF Human Rights Fellow at the Center for Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. As a fellow, Simon worked for two human rights organizations, the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (in Banjul, the Gambia) and the International Center for Transitional Justice (New York office). Before beginning work on his J.S.D., Simon also interned at the International Criminal Court. Simon’s areas of focus are the African human rights system and the legal framework of the African Union, international human rights law and international criminal law. Simon’s doctoral study focuses on devolution of power as related to the right to self-determination, accommodation of minorities, good governance and democracy with specific focus on his country, Eritrea.