María Cielo Linares, born in Argentina but based in Colombia since 2014, is a researcher for the ICTJ on the topics of transitional justice and prevention, and she supports the work of the ICTJ with the Truth Commission in Colombia. Before joining the ICTJ, Cielo worked at the Colombian Commission of Jurists as a researcher on transitional justice and the implementation of the Havana peace treaty. She was also an advisor on international law for the Prosecutor General’s office and worked at the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights and the Interamerican Court of Human Rights.

Additionally, Cielo coordinated humanitarian aid for Syria through the NGO Al-Marsad Arab Human Rights Centre. She is a lawyer from Universidad Austral (Argentina), and she has postgraduate degrees in International Criminal Law and Colombian Constitutional Law. Cielo is currently taking doctorate courses in Constitutional Law at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.