Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (born Rio de Janeiro, 8 January 1944)[1] is a Brazilian diplomat and legal scholar.
Within the United Nations System, he serves as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. [2]
He also served as United Nations Special Rapporteur for Burundi from 1995 to 1999,[1] and was a member of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.[3] In 2003, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Pinheiro as an independent expert, with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General, to prepare an in-depth study into the global phenomenon of violence against children,[3] which was presented to the General Assembly in 2006.[4]
Pinheiro is one of the seven commissioners of the Organization of American States's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for the 2004-2011 period,[5] with special responsibility for the rights of children[6] Domestically, he served as federal Secretary of State for Human Rights under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.[3]
Pinheiro has a long career in academia. He is a visiting professor at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies[7] Previously, he also held academic positions at the University of São Paulo, Oxford University, and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.[3]