Salil Tripathi

Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB


Expertise

Salil is a writer and policy adviser with experience in researching corporate activities in diverse environments and applying international human rights standards to identify human rights abuses. He believes in working with all sectors and stakeholders to build accountability and advocate positive change.


Current Work

Salil works on human rights themes such as discrimination, technology, protection of human rights defenders, and emerging issues for business and human rights. He is also engaged in researching potential impacts of investments in high-risk zones and curates a course on business and human rights at the University of Bergen, in a joint IHRB initiative with the Rafto Foundation. He conducts podcasts with human rights experts and practitioners, and writes commentaries. He has also worked on issues related to land, conflict, and the information and communication technologies. Salil also holds the position of Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).


Before IHRB

Salil was at the London-based secretariat of Amnesty International (1999-2005) where he conducted research missions to Nigeria and Bosnia, and developed organisational policies and thinking on complicity, privatisation, and corruption. He represented Amnesty International in the forming of the Global Compact, the Kimberley Process, and the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights. At International Alert (2006-2008) he worked on projects in Colombia and was part of the team that developed the Red Flags Initiative. He is also an award-winning journalist and has reported out of Asia, based in India, Singapore, and Hong Kong. He is the author of three works of non-fiction, and chaired PEN International's Writers-in-Prison Committee for six years, ending in 2021. He is now a member of PEN International's board. Salil graduated with a Masters in Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in the US, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics in India. He is based in New York.