Benetech Names Enrique Piracés as Vice President of Human Rights Program

Benetech has announced the appointment of Enrique Piracés as the Vice President of its Human Rights Program. For more than 10 years, Piracés has worked at the intersection of technology and international human rights. He has applied his technical expertise and leadership to projects requiring a broad understanding of surveillance, circumvention, security and privacy, while also pursuing innovative applications of open-source technology for the human rights movement.

“The Vice President of our Human Rights Program plays a mission-critical role at Benetech. Finding someone with the right mix of experience in both the human rights field and the technology sector—someone who could be the best ambassador of our work in both spaces—was incredibly important to us,” said Jim Fruchterman, CEO of Benetech.  “We’re delighted that Enrique is joining our team because he has that perfect mix of experience.”

Piracés comes to Benetech from Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. There he played multiple roles during his 6 year tenure, working on projects that spanned from designing and maintaining human rights documentation systems to leading partnerships with technology practitioners and academics to serving as a digital security expert. Prior to Human Rights Watch, Piracés worked for multiple social justice and human rights organizations in the United States and internationally, including The Vera Institute of Justice in New York City, a nonprofit devoted to justice policy and practice, and Terre des Hommes in Chile, a children’s rights organization.

“I am honored to be joining the Benetech team and to build upon the visionary work it has accomplished thus far,” said Piracés.  “I believe we can continue to move Benetech’s human rights’ work forward and expand it in a way that is ethical, strategic and most importantly, respects the security concerns that are paramount when using technology in the context of human rights. Technology, implemented conscientiously, can strengthen the human rights movement in a truly meaningful way.”

Piracés received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hofstra University in New York, NY and is currently pursuing his Master or Arts degree in Science, Society and Bioethics from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

###