Human Rights & U.S. Foreign Policy Senior Fellow (2026-27)
Matthew Bugher is a lawyer and researcher with two decades of experience addressing human rights challenges in Southeast Asia. His work has focused on issues including armed conflict, fair trial standards, freedom of expression, torture, and refugee rights and has applied international human rights law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and domestic law from various jurisdictions.
Most recently, Matthew was Research Director and Legal Counsel for the Southeast Asia Human Rights Project at the Harvard University Asia Center. He was previously a visiting human rights fellow at the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School. While at Harvard and Yale, Matthew worked closely with Tom Andrews, the current UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. In this capacity, he led research efforts that contributed to reports to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly, communications to governments, public statements, and other documents required by the UN mandate.
While living in Southeast Asia for more than a decade, Matthew worked primarily with international human rights organizations. From 2018 to 2021, he was Head of Asia Programme for ARTICLE 19, managing a team of local human rights professionals working to promote freedom of expression in Southeast Asia. In prior years, he was Amnesty International’s Thailand researcher and wrote reports for Fortify Rights, the International Commission of Jurists, and Aegis Trust. He helped found Justice Base, a UK-registered rule-of-law organization working in Southeast Asia and remains on the organization’s board of trustees.
Throughout his career, Matthew has prioritized teaching and mentorship. He was previously an adjunct faculty member at Thammasat University’s School of Global Studies and a clinical fellow and instructor at Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic. He has developed curricula and delivered training on human rights documentation, international humanitarian law, transitional justice, and many other topics for students and human rights defenders in Southeast Asia.
Early in his career, Matthew worked with charities, human rights lawyers, and pro-democracy movements in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Matthew is a 2010 graduate of Harvard Law School. He is a member of the New York State Bar.
Fellowship Project: Matthew will research the impacts of U.S. foreign policy, as well as the foreign policies of other developed nations, on human rights in Southeast Asia. The research will examine policies concerning humanitarian aid, economic sanctions, diplomatic relations with authoritarian governments, accountability for grave human rights violations, and engagement with international institutions, among other topics. Research on Myanmar and Cambodia will provide case studies for the project.
Fellowship Project: Matthew will research the impacts of U.S. foreign policy, as well as the foreign policies of other developed nations, on human rights in Southeast Asia. The research will examine policies concerning humanitarian aid, economic sanctions, diplomatic relations with authoritarian governments, accountability for grave human rights violations, and engagement with international institutions, among other topics. Research on Myanmar and Cambodia will provide case studies for the project.