Krassimir Kanev

Krassimir Kanev was among the founders of BHC in 1992. Between 1992 and 1994 he was its secretary and since 1994 he has been chair of the organisation. He received his PhD in Philosophy from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he specialised in human rights.

He teaches courses in human rights at Sofia University and is also an instructor for human rights professionals and activists internationally for the Boston-based Human Rights Education Associates (HREA). He has also lectured at Plovdiv University Paisiy Hilendarski, as well as Central European University, University of Sarajevo and University of Oregon, Eugene. Between 1998 and 2007, he was member of the executive committee of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, based in Vienna. Since 2005, Dr. Kanev is member of the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and between 2008 and 2010 he was its chair. As of 2006, he is board member of the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Geneva. In 2008, Kanev also became board member of the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI), New York, while between 2007 and 2008 he was board member of the European Roma Rights Centre in Budapest. Dr. Kanev has participated in numerous international human rights monitoring missions in various countries in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. He has authored and edited many books and articles on international human rights law, interethnic relational sociology, law and education, aesthetics and logics.

Dessislava Simeonova, programming and administration programme director , deputy-chair of BHC

Dessislava Simeonova has been the director of the fundraising and administration programme of BHC since 2008. Before that, she was the administrative director of the organisation. She develops a broad base of support working with foundation partners and supporters, and is also responsible for monitoring the committee’s various programmes. Other than that, she has partaken in fact-finding missions in prisons, child and elderly care homes. Simeonova has contributed to research on Roma social inclusion and the operation of equality bodies. Since 2010, she has been member of BHC’s general assembly and between 2009 and 2010 she sat on the jury for the annual Human of the Year award.

Dessislava Simeonova, programming and administration programme director , deputy-chair of BHC

Dessislava Simeonova has been the director of the fundraising and administration programme of BHC since 2008. Before that, she was the administrative director of the organisation. She develops a broad base of support working with foundation partners and supporters, and is also responsible for monitoring the committee’s various programmes. Other than that, she has partaken in fact-finding missions in prisons, child and elderly care homes. Simeonova has contributed to research on Roma social inclusion and the operation of equality bodies. Since 2010, she has been member of BHC’s general assembly and between 2009 and 2010 she sat on the jury for the annual Human of the Year award.

Sibila Borisova, administrative manager

Sibila Borisova deals with administration, assists in events management, and contributes to other activities within the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. She is a graduate in Economics and is currently a pursuing degree in Psychology.

She is trained in psychodrama and transactional analysis and has volunteered in a number of training initiatives for children in institutions. Borisova has a particular interest in the development of therapeutic communities, methods for working with children and interactive means of education.  

Severina Petkova, accountant-clerk

Denitsa Blagova, technical assistant

Denitsa Blagoeva has been technical assistant at the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee since Feburary 2011. She is responsible for the administrative tasks within the office. She is a graduate in Economics and her interests lie in the fields of economics and politics.

Ася Колева, технически сътрудник

Ася Колева е технически сътрудник в Български хелзинкски комитет от август 2011 г. Занимaва се с административното обслужване на офиса. В момента е студентка по психология в Софийски университет “Св. Климент Охридски“.

Обучава се в когнитивно-поведенческа терапия и динамично интервю. Интересите й са насочени към клиничната и консултативната психология, психопатологията и развитието в детско-юношеска възраст.

Krassimir Gegov, correspondence assistant

Krassimir Gegov has been correspondence assistant at the Bulgarian Heslinki Committee since 2008. He is responsible for various technical and administrative tasks, as well as correspondence and other office-based activities within BHC.

Margarita Ilieva, attorney-at-law, legal defence programme director

Margarita Ilieva is a prominent human rights lawyer, who has represented a number of key cases for the development of legal praxis in the field. She is also a public human rights advocate. Margarita is an internationally-recognised expert on anti-discrimination law. She represents Bulgaria in the European Network of Legal Experts in the non-discrimination field for the European Commission. Margarita Ilieva is the principal author of the Protection against Discrimination Act and an avid advocate of its adoption. She has authored the series on Anti-discrimination Law in Bulgaria: Standards and Practice, as well as a number of juridical analyses published by the European Commission, international organisations, and universities.

Margarita received the Austrian League for Human Rights award in 2010.

She founded BHC’s annual Human of the Year award and currently chairs the jury.

Aneta Genova, senior attorney

Aneta Genova is senior attorney in the Legal defence programme of BHC and also member of the general assembly of the organisation.

Aneta is an expert on the rights of persons with mental, emotional, and intellectual disabilities.  She has experience in working with victims of domestic violence, including those sexually abused ones.

She represents a number of cases before national courts and the European Court of Human Rights.

Aneta is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. She has also studied in the clinical and social work programme at New Bulgarian University (NBU). She has undergone a number of trainings for human rights protection and specific educational programmes for work with clients.

She worked as a judge in the town of Pernik and is attorney-at-law since 1998.

Daniela Furtunova, senior attorney, organisational officer

Daniela Furtunova is senior attorney and organisational officer in the legal defence programme of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.

She joined BHC in 2005 as a legal defence programme volunteer. In 2006, she received her LLM from Sofia University. She joined the Sofia Bar Association on 31 January 2007.

Apart from being attorney-at-law, at BHC Daniela has participated in monitoring missions on the living conditions in prisons and detention facilities. In 2006, she monitored the cases of persons with disabilities for a project by the Centre for Independent Life. Since 2005, she has been a civil observer of police departments in Sofia, while since 2011, she also monitors the Special Home for Temporary Placement of Foreigners in Busmantsi for an Open Society Institute project.

She is lecturer and trainer in anti-discrimination seminars and human rights trainings, organised by the Bulgarian Human Rights Lawyers, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Protection against Discrimination Commission, and Public Initiative Law Institute among others.

Elena Krasteva, legal assistant

Elena Krasteva is legal assistant at BHC’s legal defence programme. She carries out research and puts together legal analysis in the field of human rights protection.

In her work, she regards as most important the knowledge and the will to bring fundamental human rights and freedoms to the fore of the state agenda and people’s consciousness.

Blagovesta Lambreva, legal trainee

Blagovesta Angelova Lambreva is now completing her fifth year of full-time enrolment in a LLM programme at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. She joined BHC in 2008, initially as a volunteer, while currently she is legal trainee in the legal defence programme. In 2009, she was nominated by the Dean of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University for an academic excellence award, which she subsequently received from the Association of Bulgarian Administrative Judges.

Gabriela Galabova, legal trainee

Gabriela Galabova is a law student in her fourth year. She joined the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in 2009 as a volunteer. Currently, she is legal trainee in the legal defence programme.

This is her first position as a legal professional, and she has also completed a legal traineeship at the Bulgarian National Bank. She expects to become attorney-at-law in the future.

Kaloyan Stanev, assistant

Kaloyan Stanev has a degree in Arab Studies from the Sofia University. He has been working as a trainee and an assistant in the BHC Legal Programme since May 2010. He was a part of the Campaigns and Communications Programme for a while and was responsible for the online news updates.

Outside BHC’s office, Kaloyan is a volunteer in various human rights initiatives, related to training of children and young persons in human rights issues, as well as LGBT rights and others.

Mirela Zarichinova, legal assistant

Mirela Zarichinova received her LLM from Sofia University at the end of 2010. She is a graduate of the English Language School in Sofia.  During her studies she was a journalist and worked in several attorney offices. Since February, she works in the Legal Programme of BHC.

Gergana Hadzhova, volunteer (remote)

Gergana Hadzhova graduated European and International Law at the University of Cologne, Germany. After graduation, she did 2 years of practice for the District Court - Aachen. During her stay in Germany, Gergana participated as a volunteer in various organizations, including a civil initiative offering extracurricular assistance to students from struggling families, as well as from immigrant ones. Since 2010, Gergana began working as a legal assistant in CMS Reich-Rorwich Heinz, Bulgaria.

She has been a remote volunteer in the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee’s Legal Programme since June 2011.

Katerina Uzunova, volunteer (remote)

Katerina Uzunova received her Master’s degree in European Law at the Pantheon-Assas Paris II University in France, after receiving her LLM from Sofia University. During her study she has participated in studies on draft legislation by the National Assembly of Bulgaria. Katerina specialized in French, European and international law in Bordeaux, France. Since 2009, she is listed as a lawyer in the Sofia Bar Association.

She has been a remote volunteer for the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee since July 2011.

Gergana Micheva, volunteer

Gergana Micheva is a third-year law student at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. She has graduated First English Language School, Sofia and knows fluently Russian and English. Her interests are focused on the protection of human rights. She had been a member of The Bulgarian Red Cross Youth for several years and is a present member of the Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants. Gergana is a volunteer at the Legal Programme of BHC since September 2011.

Aylin Dzhafer, volunteer

Aylin Dzhafer has an LLB in Law and International Relations from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. She has been on a short internship at the European Parliament and an assistant to the Legal Analyst at the 2011 Election Observation Mission of the OSCE. Her areas of interest are human rights and the possibilities for their protection in the context of international investment arbitration. She is a member of Amnesty International and a volunteer at the Red House Centre for Culture and Debate in Sofia.

Bianca Kalcheva, volunteer

Bianca Kalcheva is a fourth year undergraduate student at the International and European Law Program in the Hague University of Applied Science, who specialized in public international law and human rights. Apart from her studies she has participated in various projects and initiatives such as the Netherlands Red Cross Student Desk Project “Serious Request” and Model United Nations 2010. She has a strong interest in human rights protection, refugee law, international criminal law and gender law.

Stanimir Petrov, project coordinator, general oversight of closed institutions coordinator

Stanimir Petrov holds a Philosophy degree from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. He has worked as researcher of closed institutions at BHC since 1997 and has been carrying out monitoring of the rights of the deprived of liberty in prisons and detention facilities, as well as children in correctional institutions and persons with intellectual disabilities. He works towards initiating reform in the practice of penitentiary institutions and lobbies for change of relevant legislation to ensure compliance with international standards for treatment of those deprived of liberty.

As a result of his projects, he has co-authored a total of 10 books, which focus on the state of human rights in different closed institutions. He has also contributed to the preparation of a large number of special reports and articles, including BHC’s annual reports and Obektiv magazine.

Dr. Georgi Bankov, senior researcher, specialized oversight of closed institutions coordinator

Elitsa Gerginova, researcher

Elitsa Gerginova was a researcher in the closed institutions monitoring programme between 1992 and 2002 and returned in March 2009. She carries out monitoring of the rights of those deprived of liberty in prisons, prison hostels, detention facilities and police departments, correctional institutions and socio-pedagogical centres, as well as psychiatric and social facilities throughout the country. She holds a Law degree from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski.

Slavka Kukova, coordinator, senior researcher

Slavka Kukova is coordinator of the Activities in Protection of the Rights of Children in Institutions and Legal Studies for EU Fundamental Rights projects. She has been researching children’s institutions since 2000. She monitors living conditions and opportunities for wholesome emotional, mental, and intellectual development of all children who live in homes. Kukova lobbies for the establishment of conditions for raising children from institutions in family or close-to-family settings. She has contributed to drafting of legislation and policies, related to the protection of the rights of the child. She is a legal graduate, with a number of publications on the rights of the child, the rights of persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, and the rights of prisoners. She believes that the recognition of and support for diversity leads to more wholesome life within all societies.

Lyubomira Marinova, researcher

Lyubomira received a Law & Business BA degree from Griffith College Dublin. Later she completed her Human Rights MA studies at University College London. She did a legal internship at Minority Rights Group International, doing research on the rights of indigenous peoples in East Africa.

Lyubomira's professional interests cover various fields. She gained some practical experience interning for the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement UK. Her interests include women and children's rights, genocide studies, as well as minority rights and human rights in prisons and detention centres.

Yana Buhrer Tavanier, director

Yana Buhrer Tavanier is responsible for the communication and organisation, as well as impact and visibility, of all BHC campaigns.

She joined BHC in December 2009. Before that she was editor of the society section at Capital weekly between 2003 and 2008. She has authored two handbooks for journalists, and has also made two documentaries and two photography exhibitions. Yana received the Paniza award for reportage in 2001, the award for best investigative article, co-established by the Guardian Foundation, and the UNHCR Bulgaria prize for journalistic excellence in 2007.

As a recipient of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (fellowship.birn.eu.com), Yana investigates the situation of persons with mental disabilities in institutions in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and subsequently in Macedonia and Croatia.

Desislava Petrova, coordinator

Desislava Petrova has been communications and campaigns coordinator at BHC since the beginning of 2010. She is a human rights activist. She has been advocating the rights of the Bulgarian LGBT community since the year 2000. Desislava has participated in working groups for legislation drafting, national plans and proposals for amendments to Bulgarian and European legislation (Criminal Code amendments, Protection against Discrimination Bill and Registered Partnership Bill). Throughout the years, she has contributed to a number of projects and campaigns on diversity, protection against discrimination, intercultural dialogue, ethnic minorities, and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Svetla Baeva, researcher and communications expert

Svetla completed a double degree in European studies and Communications, after which she specialized in International Relations and Political Science in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She has worked as a Project manager and Media analyst in the preparation of reports analyzing traditional and social media trends on various topics for international organizations, governments and the private sector. She is interested in the problematics surrounding refugee integration in Bulgaria and Europe and is an active volunteer at the Integration Center in Sofia.

Andrey Getov, multimedia producer

Andrey graduated from First English Language School Sofia and  received an “International Relations” MA degree from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Later he completed his “Film and Television Art” MA studies at New Bulgarian University.

His short fiction films "Rebellion", “Magicians” and "Zero Street" participated in various film festivals around the globe, with "Magicians" winning the Best Bulgarian Short Film Award of Filmini 3.0 and the Best Fiction Video Award of the Black & White Audiovisual Festival in Porto.

Andrey has also directed two documentaries: "GÖÇ - stepping across the border" (in collaboration with Irina Nedeva and Daniela Gorcheva) and "Seeing You" (in collaboration with Yana Buhrer Tavanier and Stefan Krastev).

Yuliana Metodieva, editor-in-chief, Obektiv magazine

Yuliana Metodieva has been the editor-in-chief of Obektiv – a bilingual publication of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee – since 1994.

She is the author of the following sociological studies: Media and Religion (1996), Anti-Semitism in Bulgaria – Is There Such a Thing? (2005), PR and Media (2006), How and Why Radio New Europe Was Discontinued (2007), The “Yellow Press” Phenomenon. Weekend (2009). She is the screenwriter of the documentary They, the Others (1998). She is a regular contributor to the newspapers Kultura, Capital, Literature review, and the magazines Orientalism and Democratic review. She assisted the publication of the collection of interviews The Bulgarian Public on Racism and Anti-Semitism by New Bulgarian University in 2004.

She is the author of Don’t Shoot David Koresh (1993) and between 1991 and 1993 published the newspaper 1000 Days. Before 1989, Metodieva was a journalist covering youth problems for Family and School magazine.

Zhana Nikolova, editor of Obektiv magazine

Since September 2010, Zhana Nikolova is member of the Obektiv team. She edits original contributions by a number of authors – “a wide selection of professionals, who probe deeply into significant topics from the past and the present.”

Iliana Savova, director

Iliana Savova has been working on issues of housing and migration at BHC since 1996. Since 1997 she is the coordinator of the National Legal Network for Refugees, while in 2001 she became the director of the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and has studied human rights and refugee law at the European Court of Human Rights and New College, Oxford. She is a member of the Sofia Bar Association.  Savova lectures refugee and immigration law at the Krastio Tsonchev Centre for lawyers’ training of the Supreme Bar Council.

Plamen Zhelev, legal officer

Plamen Zhelev has been attorney-at-law in the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme since 1997 and is responsible for the trial proceedings of refugee cases. He graduated from the Higher Institute for Instruction of Officers and Research. He has specialised on the proceedings of determining the state, responsible for reviewing the claim for protection before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Mariana Andreeva

Mariana Andreeva has been attorney-at-law in the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme since 2001 and is responsible for monitoring borders and access to territory of asylum seekers. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and has specialised in international protection of refugees and relocation at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and Churches Commission for Migrants.

Elisa Sekulova

Elitsa Sekulova has been accountant in the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme since 2005 and is responsible for administrative and financial book-keeping and management. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Accountancy and Control at the University for National and World Economy and holds international accountancy standards certifications (IASs).

Georgi Toshev

Georgi Toshev is attorney-at-law in the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme. He joined BHC in 1997 as legal associate. In 2002, he became attorney-at-law and joined the National Legal Network for Refugees, for which he carries out monitoring of places for administrative detention of foreigners. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski and has specialised in immigration and asylum at the Free University of Brussels.

Valentina Nilsen

Valentina Nilsen has been attorney-at-law in the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme since 1999 and is responsible for conducting monitoring of legal standards in the administrative proceedings for granting of international protection. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University for National and World Economy and has specialised refugee law at the European Council on Refuges and Exiles (ECRE).

Antoaneta Dedikova

Antoaneta Dedikova is legal consultant and deputy director of the legal protection of refugees and migrants programme. She joined BHC in 2000.  She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov. She specialised in the issues of separated children and is the Bulgarian coordinator for Separated Children in Europe. She participates in national and international research projects on the right to healthcare of migrants and the basic standards during voluntary return.