Consultancy
Senior Consultant & Strategic Adviser
Yousuf Syed Khan undertakes select consultancy and advisory engagements on atrocity crimes, conflict investigations, and accountability. He has more than 15 years of legal experience across conflict and post-conflict settings, including Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Belarus.
For nearly a decade, Yousuf served with the United Nations, where he was responsible for the legal analysis of core international crimes committed in contemporary armed conflicts and supported 14 UN-mandated experts in developing factual and legal findings. His work included the first-ever report by a UN-mandated mechanism on starvation as a method of warfare, as well as major findings concerning forced displacement, detention, siege warfare, and other international crimes. His work spans international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and human rights, with particular expertise in starvation as a method of warfare and siege warfare.
His work on starvation and siege warfare has encompassed Aleppo, eastern Ghouta, Madaya, Tigray, El Fasher, Mariupol, and Gaza. His broader UN work included developing major legal findings that the evacuation of eastern Aleppo amounted to forced displacement and that camps for internally displaced persons in northeast Syria functioned as de facto internment sites.
His legal analysis has been cited in written submissions by Member States before the International Court of Justice, expert commentary on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the ICRC International Humanitarian Law Bibliography, and work by UN Special Rapporteurs, human rights and humanitarian organisations, scholars, and leading policy institutions. He has also been quoted for his legal analysis by major international media outlets, including the BBC, The Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera.
Yousuf combines legal analysis with investigative and field experience. He has conducted in-country investigations during active armed conflicts, worked with large and complex evidentiary records, provided legal and strategic advice to senior officials, and trained judges, law enforcement and government officials, investigators, and other practitioners. He is also a recognised Prosecution Expert with Justice Rapid Response (JRR), rostered in relation to both the law of occupation and crimes affecting cultural heritage.
Services
Starvation
Starvation as a method of warfare, famine, and food insecurity in emergencies
Law of Occupation
Legal analysis of occupation, including the administration of occupied territory, public and private property, usufruct and natural resources, cultural property, and de facto annexation.
Legal Opinions
Preparation of legal opinions and memoranda on complex questions of armed conflict, atrocity crimes, and international accountability.
Reports
Drafting major human rights reports and peer review of unpublished reports
Investigations
Conducting survivor-centred, trauma-informed field investigations, including interviews with survivors, witnesses, and defectors
Training
Designing and delivering bespoke training on international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and human rights law
eDiscovery
Evidence management and preservation, including eDiscovery and cooperation between civil society and national authorities
OSINT
Legal assessment of open-source and digital evidence, including geospatial analysis and satellite imagery
Conflict Analysis
Conducting conflict analysis, including actor mapping, relationship analysis, and hypothesis development
Recent Clients
The names of some organisations are withheld either to preserve confidentiality, or where disclosure could compromise vital work.
Starvation as a method of warfare
[Redacted], for which he provided confidential legal advice to a national government in connection with a major war crimes prosecution concerning large-scale conduct arising from an on-going armed conflict.
A prominent legal organisation based in Geneva, where he played a key role in advancing strategic litigation on behalf of victims and survivors of core international crimes (including by leading the analysis and findings on starvation as a method of warfare), before national jurisdictions including in Europe and Africa.
[Redacted], for which he provided legal analysis to a national government pursuing war crimes prosecutions during an active and on-going armed conflict (including assessments of starvation as a method of warfare and associated starvation crimes).
The United Nations, for which he was contracted as an Expert to work on atrocity crimes determinations (including assessments of starvation as a method of warfare and associated starvation crimes).
Other engagements
[Redacted], by whom he was contracted to prepare a draft resolution for consideration by a group of Member States on human rights violations and atrocity crimes perpetrated by [redacted], including pathways for accountability.
[Redacted], by whom he was invited to deliver a high-level, confidential briefing to 24 UN Human Rights Council Member States, addressing critical accountability strategies for core atrocity crimes by a specific perpetrator operating in multiple jurisdictions.
A major nonpartisan think tank, for which he was contracted to research and author a comprehensive investigative report on Iran's military involvement, roles, and violations perpetrated by its armed forces and allied militias in the Syrian conflict.
A leading NGO, for which he was commissioned as the Senior Legal Adviser to conduct confidential interviews and produce a report concerning the efficacy of the evidence preservation efforts and archiving by UN atrocity inquiries.