Jan Jarab is commissioner for Human Rights of the Czech Republic, an advisory position to the Czech Government that he has held since 2001. As commissioner he is responsible for creating policy, particularly concerning ethnic minorities, drafting reports by the Czech Republic to various control mechanisms of binding international conventions on human rights, and chairing the Human Rights Council, which produces initiatives and proposals for the Czech Government and is comprised of civil servants, NGO leaders, and academics. He is a former medical practitioner, NGO activist, and translator of fiction and non-fiction; a founding member of the Czech organization “Host,” a group critical of racially-motivated crime; and was a former student activist, serving as spokesman for his class during the November 17, demonstrations. Mr. Jarab received a medical degree from Charles University, and a M.A. in anthropology from University College in London.