Baltasar Garzón Real was born in Torres, (Jaén) on October 26, 1955. He is a magistrate. Currently, he practices law and is director of ILOCAD SL (International Legal Organization for Cooperation and Development), based in Madrid. He coordinates pro bono the international defense of Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
Baltasar Garzón also chairs the FIBGAR Foundation, an organization for Human Rights and Universal Jurisdiction, whose headquarters are also Madrid. The Foundation currently has programs in development in Spain, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico.
He is also president of the Asociación Convocatoria Cívica which purpose is to promote the meeting of the progressive political forces of Spain.
Until December 2015, he was advisor to the Comisión de Derechos Humanos de la Honorable Cámara de Diputados de Argentina, and chair of the Consejo de Administración del Centro Internacional para la Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPDH) under the auspices of UNESCO Argentina.
He was advisor to the Porsecutor of the International Criminal Court from 2010 to 2011 and coordinated in 2012 the Veeduría Internacional de la Reforma de la Función Judicial in Ecuador(pro bono). In 2011 and 2012, he was part of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the European Council, and served as advisor for theMisión de Apoyo al Proceso de Paz de la OEA in Colombia (2011-2012).
Baltasar Garzón cooperates with the Human Rights Department of the University of Washington in Seattle (USA). He has written several books, including “La indignación activa”, “En el punto de mira”, “Un mundo sin miedo” and “La línea del horizonte” as well as multiple articles and essays. He is Doctor Honoris Causa for 30 universities around the world, and member of different humanitarian organizations and centers of Human Rights and mediation in conflicts all around the world.
He has acted as an observer in Human Rights in the elections held in Honduras on November 24, 2013 accompanying the Free Party.