The 37-year-old Oxford University graduate recently spent time in Washington DC meeting with US politicians and policy-makers about the ongoing political crisis in the Maldives.
Amal is currently representing the nation's former leader Mohamed Nasheed, who was convicted of terrorism last March for arresting a chief judge in January 2012.
She flew to the Maldives to visit her client in prison last year and saw first hand how bad the situation is - one of her colleagues was stabbed just before she arrived - and now she's requesting US lawmakers form a resolution on sanctions against the reigning government.
"Democracy is dead in the Maldives," she said. "I mean, literally, if there were an election now, there would be no one to run against the president. Every opposition leader is either behind bars or being pursued by the government through the courts.
"I think it's important for tourists to know the facts of what's happening in the Maldives," she continued. "I don't think people realise that there's a flogging taking place a kilometre away when they're sunbathing in their resort."
Amal insists the stabbing of her co-counsel hasn't scared her away from representing Nasheed.
"It wasn't the most comfortable position to be in, but I was determined to go," she added. "It meant a lot to me to (represent) Nasheed, who I had read about and I considered a hero. I was inspired by his leadership on climate justice, his leadership on human rights and his commitment to that.
"If you are a lawyer and you want to take on easier cases, you can prosecute traffic violations or something," she scoffed.
"You'd have a very high rate of success and you probably could sleep more easily at night. But that's not what drives me. I want to work on cases that I feel the most passionate about."
- AAP
