Manfred Nowak is Professor of International Human Rights Protection at University of Vienna and Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. He is one of the most significant scholars and experts of the international Human Rights field. As a researcher and practitioner he has authored numerous books and articles. He has been awarded the UNESCO Prize for the Teaching of Human Rights and was head of the European Master's Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) in Venice from 2000 to 2007. In the context of the UN he has performed a range of different tasks, among others as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture since December 2004.