Charles Clements, MD, is a public-health physician and former president of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) (his term ended in early 1999). He has served on the board of the organization since its inception in 1986. Clements represented PHR at the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty ceremonies in 1997 in Ottawa and a week later in Oslo at the Nobel ceremonies.
Clements worked as a physician in a rural area of El Salvador during their civil war, operating on victims of landmines. He chronicled his experiences in a book, A Witness to War, which The American Friends Service Committee made into an Academy Award-winning documentary.
Clements currently directs the not-for-profit WaterWorks, which assists communities in the United States without running water or sewer systems. Clements is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Washington School of Community Medicine and Public Health.