Daniel Bekele, a lawyer, human rights activist and commentator, was formerly the Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Educated at Addis Ababa and Oxford universities, he has written on human rights, democratic governance, development, and peace and security issues in Africa for regional and international media outlets. He spent over two years in prison in Ethiopia because of his human rights work, and was globally recognised as a prisoner of conscience. In 2009 he won the Alison Des Forge award for extraordinary activism.