Rafael is a lawyer and currently works with the UNODC Regional Office for Central America and the Caribbean, based in Sint Maarten, focusing on penal and prison reform. He is a member of the Penal Policies Management Laboratory at the University of Brasília (LabGEPEN/UnB) and the Brazilian Forum of Public Security (FBSP), and was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Méndez Principles on Investigative Interviewing.
Previously, he worked with UNODC in the Philippines and was a programme manager on criminal justice reform with UNDP in Brazil, supporting reforms in criminal justice policy, custodial hearings, non-custodial measures, and efforts to reduce prison overcrowding across all 27 Brazilian states. He also coordinated the Brazilian National Preventive Mechanism Against Torture (NPM).
He has also taught law at different Brazilian universities and worked with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), World Vision, and civil society organizations. Rafael holds Master’s degrees in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and in Law from the Universidade Federal do Ceará.