David Pereira, the director general of Amnesty International Luxembourg since 16 September 2024, was previously director of national programmes at Médecins du Monde. He has been active with Amnesty International Luxembourg since 2009. Photo: Amnesty International Luxembourg

David Pereira, the director general of Amnesty International Luxembourg since 16 September 2024, was previously director of national programmes at Médecins du Monde. He has been active with Amnesty International Luxembourg since 2009. Photo: Amnesty International Luxembourg

The NGO Amnesty International Luxembourg has announced the arrival of a new director general with the appointment of David Pereira, who has been involved with the association for the past 15 years. He replaced Fernanda Pérez Solla, who had been in charge of the transition since the departure of Olivier Pirot at the end of 2023. "A new lease of life", says the NGO.

The arrival of David Pereira as the new director general of Amnesty International Luxembourg gives the NGO "a new lease of life", says the human rights activist group. Since 16 September, he has replaced Fernanda Pérez Solla, who has been director ad interim since November 2023, since the departure of Olivier Pirot. Pereira has been a member of Amnesty since 2009. He was particularly involved in issues relating to political refugees and asylum seekers. He was also chair of the organisation from 2014 to 2019 and has served as secretary general of the board of directors. "His extensive experience at Amnesty gives him a real understanding of the organisation's needs and culture", the NGO said in its press release, issued on 19 September 2024.

A hospital doctor by profession, he worked for 18 years at the Centre hospitalier de Luxembourg, then as head of Médecins du Monde's national programmes from 2019 to 2022, before becoming its director until September. This solid experience "enabled him to familiarise himself with the struggle for fundamental human values and equipped him with interpersonal, managerial and communication skills".

In his new role, Pereira aims to "strengthen Amnesty International Luxembourg's impact in the defence of human rights and provide the organisation with a structure that will reinforce and prepare it for this challenge", as well as to "open Amnesty's doors even wider to Luxembourg society, by inviting individuals, institutions, companies and other organisations to join us in our fight for a fairer world".

In the wake of the Caritas affair, the new director wants to reassure supporters "about the transparency of the funds managed by the organisation". He appealed for "all kinds of support, including financial support and the confidence of Luxembourg society".

Here in Luxembourg, Amnesty continues to work against phenomena that are still visible, such as restrictions on freedom of expression and demonstration, threats to the independence of associations, regulations on begging and asylum policy. Faced with the emergence of AI, Amnesty is keen to ensure that these technological developments do not lead to an increase in human rights violations. "In an increasingly precarious world, the unregulated proliferation and deployment of technologies such as generative AI, facial recognition and spyware is becoming a pernicious enemy, leading to an unprecedented increase in violations of human rights and international law," said Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard this summer. In Luxembourg, the NGO has over 400 activists and around 7,000 donors.

Read the French-language version of this report

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