Human rights advocate and United Nations official Juan E. Méndez will receive the 2015 Adlai Stevenson Award for career of service to the global community on  December 10 at 4:30 PM in Bowl 2 of Robertson Hall at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs. The Princeton-Trenton Area chapter of the United Nations Association (UNA) will present the award in memory of former United Nations Ambassador and Princeton alumnus Adlai Stevenson II, following which Professor Méndez will give offer remarks.

As the UN’s Special Rapporteur for Torture and other Degrading Punishment, Méndez advocated for the rights of detained migrants and their children.  He also led fights to prevent genocide and reform prison practices around the world.  In 1975, Professor Méndez was abducted and tortured by Argentina’s military government  in response to his legal defense of political prisoners. Since his release in 1977 as an Amnesty International “Prisoner of Conscience,” he has been at the forefront of the struggle to protect human rights. In addition to his advocacy, he currently teaches human rights law at American University’s Washington College of Law.