Roxanna Altholz ’99 is an international human rights lawyer and scholar with extensive experience in international and national fora. Altholz has won several ground-breaking judgments from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, provided expert testimony before UN human rights groups, and initiated legal actions on behalf of human rights victims in U.S. federal courts. She has also developed advocacy and research initiatives to address human rights violations suffered by asylum seekers and migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, to examine the human rights impacts of unsolved murders in Oakland, and to understand accountability mechanisms for private companies receiving international financing.
Prior to teaching at Berkeley, Altholz served as a legal advisor for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (1999-2000) and a staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) in Washington, D.C. (2000-2005). At CEJIL, Altholz handled a docket comprised of approximately 40 cases involving massacres, extrajudicial killings, torture, disappearances, and discrimination in the United States, Colombia, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador before the Inter-American human rights system.
Altholz’s most recent publications include, “Living with Impunity: Unsolved Murders in Oakland and the Human Rights Impact on Victims’ Family Members,” “Dam Violence: The Plan to Kill Berta Cáceres,” and “Chronicle of A Death Foretold: The Future of U.S. Human Rights Litigation Post-Kiobel,” appeared in the California Law Review (2014). She is the recipient of the 2013 UC Berkeley Law Young Alumni Award and the 2013 UC Berkeley’s Foundation for Change Thomas I. Yamashita Prize.
Education
B.A., Brown University (1995)
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (1999)
Roxanna Marie Altholz is not teaching any Law courses in Fall 2026.
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Spring 2026 | 283.1H sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 283H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5I sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | Fall 2025 | 283.1H sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 283H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5I sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | Spring 2025 | 283.1H sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic Seminar | 283H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic Seminar | 295.5H sec. 001 | Human Rights Clinic | 295.5I sec. 001 | Advanced Human Rights Clinic |
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Clinic Plays Key Role in Investigation of Death of Honduran Activist
The International Human Rights Law Clinic aids in the investigation of the murder of a Honduran environmental activist.
New Report Critical of World Bank’s Internal Watchdog
The International Human Rights Law Clinic says the World Bank’s internal watchdog does not have the authority to enforce its own social and environmental policies.
Clinic Files Petition Claiming Human Rights Abuses by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
A nearly six-year legal battle for justice took a new turn as the International Human Rights Law Clinic filed a petition against the U.S. for the death of a Mexican national by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.