Michael Breen (human rights activist)

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Michael Breen
Occupation(s)President and CEO, Human Rights First

Michael Breen (born November 28, 1979), President & CEO of Human Rights First since 2018, is an American human rights leader, attorney, and military veteran.[1] He has been listed among influential policy experts and advocates in Washington, DC,[2][3] and interviewed by major media outlets.[4]

Education[edit]

Breen attended Dartmouth College on an ROTC scholarship and earned his Bachelor’s Degree there. [5]

Breen earned a JD from Yale Law School,[6] where he co-founded the International Refugee Assistance Project, working with refugees in Syria and helping establish the University of Jordan’s first clinical legal education program.[7]

Military Service[edit]

Breen served as a U.S. Army officer from 2002 to 2006, leading troops in Iraq and Afghanistan before resigning from the military with the rank of captain. In Iraq, Breen served for over a year with 1-6 Infantry, 1st Armored Division in Baghdad and the Triangle of Death (Iraq), where his unit was involved in heavy fighting. In Iraq, Breen earned a Presidential Unit Citation.[8]

In Afghanistan, Breen served for a year as a platoon leader with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and with CJSOTF-A in the Korengal and Pech valleys.[9] During Operation Red Wings, Breen joined a team of special operations personnel that located and recovered wounded SEAL Marcus Luttrell, the only survivor of a compromised reconnaissance team.[10] At the operational level, Breen served as a member of Task Force 76’s Effects Based Operations Cell and as the Targeting Officer for the 1st Armored Division.[11]

Early Career[edit]

Breen served in President Barack Obama’s Office of White House Counsel in 2009. [12]

He was one of the leaders of Operation Free, a multiyear nationwide campaign to address climate change as a national security issue. The operation helped pass clean energy legislation at the federal level and in states including North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Ohio.[13][14] [15]

Breen served as President & CEO of the Truman National Security Project[16] from 2011 to 2018 and as President & CEO of the Truman Center for National Policy from 2014 to 2018.[17] In these roles, Breen advocated for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a more forceful response to the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization, and changes to Taiwan’s defense strategy. He also supported admitting larger numbers of refugees to the United States, and was a frequent writer and speaker on numerous other national security and foreign policy issues.[18] [19]Breen defended clean energy initiatives on national security grounds and argued that climate change will have a dire impact on global safety and security.[20][21]

In 2017, Breen opposed the Trump travel ban, helping to lead the legal response at Dulles International Airport and debating the issue with Tucker Carlson on live television.[22]

Human Rights First[edit]

Shortly after Breen was named President and CEO of Human Rights First in 2018,[23] the organization began impact litigation work, filing a number of lawsuits related to the Trump administration’s asylum and border policies.[24] In 2023, the organization filed a lawsuit against Patriot Front, a white supremacist organization.[25]

Breen has testified before the US Congress and spoken publicly about human rights abuses at the US-Mexico border, including family separation.[26] [27]He has written and testified about the importance of the Global Magnitsky sanctions program,[28] strengthening global accountability mechanisms for human rights abuses, and new approaches to fighting corruption.[29] [30]

Breen pushed for the U.S. government to evacuate allies and Human Rights Defenders from Afghanistan, both before the withdrawal and afterward, and led independent evacuation efforts.[31] [32][33]

In 2023, Breen traveled to Ukraine to investigate and report on war crimes and human rights abuses.[34]

  1. ^ "MICHAEL BREEN NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST". Human Rights First. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Washington DC's 500 Most Influential People". Washingtonian. May 3, 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  3. ^ "The Hill's Top Lobbyists 2021". The Hill. December 1, 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  4. ^ Carless, Will (September 14, 2023). "'Attack on military readiness': Human rights groups sound new alarm on extremism". USA Today. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  5. ^ Furlong, Lisa (September–October 2021). "Call Of Duty (part 2)". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 14 April 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  6. ^ "Human Rights Workshop: Michael Breen YLS '11, "Human Rights in Crisis: Meeting the Moment at Home and Abroad"". Yale Law School. Yale University. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  7. ^ "First-Year Fellow Mentor: Michael Breen '02". Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Dartmouth. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  8. ^ Furlong, Lisa (September–October 2021). "Call Of Duty (part 2)". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 14 April 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  9. ^ "First-Year Fellow Mentor: Michael Breen '02". Rockefeller Center FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. Dartmouth. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  10. ^ Morgan, Wesley (March 1, 2022). The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780812985221.
  11. ^ "First-Year Fellow Mentor: Michael Breen '02". Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Dartmouth. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  12. ^ "First-Year Fellow Mentor: Michael Breen '02". Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Dartmouth. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  13. ^ Ramer, Holly (October 24, 2009). "Vets push for clean energy". Seacoastline. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  14. ^ Breen, Michael (June 16, 2015). "Michael Breen: Clean energy vital to military". Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Retired U.S. military brass wage political battle for biofuels". Reuters. July 12, 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  16. ^ "Contributor:Michael Breen". HuffPost. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  17. ^ Breen, Michael (March 19, 2013). "A New Truman Doctrine". Time Magazine. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  18. ^ Breen, Michael (8 September 2015). "The lessons we should learn from the Iraq war". White House President Barack Obama. White House. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Implementation Day". White House President Barack Obama. White House. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  20. ^ Breen, Michael (May 8, 2014). "The U.S. Military Cares About Global Warming, Civilians Should Too". New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  21. ^ Kenny, Glenn (January 26, 2017). "Review: Climate Change and Conflicts in 'The Age of Consequences'". New York Times. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  22. ^ Breen, Michael (February 4, 2017). "Remember What We're Fighting For". USNews and World Report. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  23. ^ "MICHAEL BREEN NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST". Human Rights First. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  24. ^ "O.A. V. Trump November 20, 2018". National Immigrant Justice Center. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  25. ^ "LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST PATRIOT FRONT FOR RACIST ATTACK IN BOSTON". Human Rights First. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  26. ^ "KIDS IN CAGES: INHUMANE TREATMENT AT THE BORDER". U.S. Congress. U.S. government. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  27. ^ "Kids at the Border". CNN. 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  28. ^ "The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act". Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  29. ^ Breen, Mike; Abramowitz, Mikew. "FROM MAGNITSKY TO THE MOTHERS OF MARIUPOL". Human Rights First. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  30. ^ Breen, Michael (20 April 2021). "Congress Must Stand with Civil Society and Strengthen the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program". Just Security. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  31. ^ Breen, Michael (11 November 2021). "American Society Will Not Abandon Our Afghan Allies". Just Security. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  32. ^ Griswold, Eliza (August 30, 2022). "The Evacuation of Afghanistan Never Ended". New Yorker. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  33. ^ "President Biden Announces End to 20-Year Conflict with Afghanistan". MSNBC. April 18, 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  34. ^ "Ukraine Report #9: Documenting Russian War Crimes w/Mike Breen". Burn the Boats. Evergreen. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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