A lawyer by profession, Lorena González Pinto has practiced law in Guatemala and Costa Rica and has been a Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of La Salle, Costa Rica, for more than 15 years. She is an independent expert on the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“SPT”). Since 2011, she has served as UNESCO Chair in Human Rights for La Salle University. Lorena has also been University of La Salle Law School Dean 2014-2015, President of the Center for Studies of Rights, a member of Commission on Human Rights in the Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Costa Rica, and coordinator of the Ombudsman Program at the Inter American Institute of Human Rights in Costa Rica. In addition, she has worked as an international consultant on issues related to women, indigenous people, migrant’s rights, freedom of speech and penitentiary systems for agencies including UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, and UNFPA. She was also an alternate delegate of Guatemala to the United Nations in Geneva and to the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., participating in the drafting of the Protocol of San Salvador and the Protocol to Abolish the Death Penalty. Lorena joined the IJRC Board of Directors in 2017.
Lorena holds a diploma in international human rights from Oxford University, a master’s degree in human rights from Costa Rica’s National Distance University (UNED), and a law degree (with honors) from the Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala. She has also studied at The Hague Academy of International Law. She is the author of numerous articles on human rights, ombudsmen offices, conflict resolution, and youths in correctional systems.