Our Team

Middle East

Aaron Kearney

Aaron Kearney is an international human rights lawyer with nearly a decade of experience working on human rights and international humanitarian law issues. Aaron has spent most of his career documenting and investigating human rights abuses and advocating to international justice mechanisms for crimes committed in Syria and Palestine, particularly crimes concerning business and human rights and sexual and gender-based violence. Aaron also has experience providing legal support at the domestic level, having worked with immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the United States. Aaron has published numerous investigative legal reports and articles on civilians in conflict and post-conflict areas while supporting grassroots non-profit operations in conflict-impacted regions.
 
Aaron is licensed to practice law in New York state. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, with honors in a concentration in international law. Aaron is also passionate about storytelling and advocacy, holding an undergraduate degree in journalism with a concentration in film journalism from Loyola University Chicago. Aaron is currently based in Beirut, Lebanon.

Africa

Abdi Yussuf Abdullahi

Abdi Yussuf Abdullahi is Somalia’s Project Coordinator. For the past 7 years he has been working with INGOs and NGOs in the areas of protection, post-conflict stabilization, good governance, and in countering violent extremism leading implementation, coordination and stakeholder engagement with communities transitioning from crisis within East Africa. He joined LAW towards the end of 2023 as Somalia project coordinator. Before Law, Abdi worked with Chemonics international Inc., AECOM international, care Kenya, Safeway service international group and Somali women development center on different capacities.    

South Asia

Aditi Pradhan

Aditi works as Legal Coordinator at LAW’s Rohingya Crisis Programme. She is a lawyer with background in criminal justice research and litigation. She holds an LL.M. from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Law (USA), with specialisations in International Law and Public Interest & Social Justice alongside a B.A.LL.B.(H.) from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Amity Law School (India). As a Legal Coordinator with the Rohingya Crisis Programme, Aditi supports the ongoing legal initiatives; capacity building for the network of Survivor Advocates, and high-level and grass-roots advocacy to ensure that the international justice and accountability discourse for the Rohingya is informed by the needs and perspectives of the community.  
She has extensive experience in both domestic and international criminal law, as well as international human rights law having worked with organisations like the Criminal Justice & Police Accountability Project, Strategic Advocacy for Human Rights, International Bar Association and Global Rights Compliance. 

South Asia

Afroja Bulbul Tumpa

Afroja Bulbul Tumpa currently serves as a Casework Consultant at LAW. Before that she served LAW as a Programme officer for almost two years. Afroja started her career at BRAC HCMP as a center officer within a community-based protection project for one year. At BRAC her role was to support monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems, while ensuring safety and implementing safeguarding standards. Lead volunteers in research activities, prioritizing safety and endorsing a secure working environment.  

South Asia

Alicia Cook

Africa

Angeliki Kourtesi

Angeliki Kourtesi is the legal advisor for the South Sudan programme (and the aid workers project) since April 2022. She is a Greek lawyer with a master’s degree in human rights and humanitarian law and is a member of the Athens Bar Association.  She has worked as a lawyer in Greece and specialized in refugee law.  Her experience includes working on Refugee Status Determination (RSD), as well as joining UNHCR in 2016 working on the refugee protection across Greece, Burundi and Costa Rica. Through her field and managerial experience, she has focused on access to rights and legal procedures for the refugee population, SGBV and child protection case management. She has also been part of the coordination and implementation of a NORCAP/NRC capacity building project for the Ministry of Asylum and Migration in Greece. 

South Asia

Ayesha Abrar Nawshin

Ayesha Nawshin is the Communications Coordinator for LAW’s Rohingya Crisis programme, while also supporting global communications and advocacy activities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) from the Asian University for Women, with a major concentration in Human Rights, Law, and Policy, and a minor in Development Studies. Ayesha has previously worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Bangladesh, contributing to donor-engaging humanitarian advocacy and communication priorities, collaborating with the refugee youth, and conducting youth assessment research in the Rohingya response. Prior to the response, Ayesha interned at the Gender and Social Cluster of the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, supporting a research study on Bangladeshi feminist movements and the backlashes against it. She is also a leadership graduate of the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre, where she served as a leadership facilitator, volunteer, and community mobilizer at different times. Throughout her academic and professional life, Ayesha has gained extensive experience working with diverse communities, particularly youth, women, and the queer community, on gender equality, GBV prevention, community development, financial literacy, and sex education in various civil society organizations.  

South Asia

Ayesha Siddika Chowdhury

Ayesha Siddika Chowdhury works as Programme Officer for the Rohingya Crisis Programme. She is a Bangladeshi lawyer, and a humanitarian worker based in Bangladesh. Ms. Chowdhury had her education from Internation Islamic University Chittagong (LL.M. and LL.B.) and later enrolled by Bangladesh Bar Council in 2018. She has been working for five years in the humanitarian response particularly in Rohingya refugee context in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 
She has worked with BLAST (Bangladesh Legal Aid & Services Trust) which is a prominent national legal organization, for almost five years. She has had her focus on Legal Protection, SRHR, Gender Approach, and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). Ms. Chowdhury also worked on implementation of community legal services related activities which include legal representation, mediation, legal advice/counselling, legal awareness sessions and so on. She also worked on training facilitation. She conducted various trainings on National and International Legal Framework for Rohingya Refugees, Gender-based-Violence, PSEA and on other relevant Policies. 

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

South Asia

Bangladesh, Staff

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Briene Zijlmans

Briene Zijlmans is a LAW Board Director, based in The Netherlands. He obtained his master degrees in Law and Business Administration in the Leiden and Rotterdam universities respectively. Fulfilled a career in Finance, mostly within the energy sector, with postings in Europe and Africa, and spanning business operations in all other continents as well. Briene is keen to support the activities of LAW and thereby help the vulnerable and exploited, having witnessed from close-up or further afield situations of lawlessness and impunity, especially during ethnic and religious strife or even war.

Africa

Camille Delbourgo

Camille Delbourgo is LAW’s acting South Sudan Programme Manager. Camille has experience practicing law as an national lawyer in France and in international criminal law and universal jurisdiction with the Office of the Co-Prosecutor of the ECCC in Cambodia and the Swiss association Civitas Maxima. She then went on to work a Legal Advisor with the IFRC in Central African Republic, and as a Special Assistant with MONUSCO in the Kasai Region and in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most recently, Camille was a Human Rights Officer at the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in the OHCHR in Geneva, focusing on Europe, Africa and the MENA regions.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Daniel Machover

heads the civil department of leading human rights firm, Hickman & Rose. He is particularly renowned for his work on actions against the police and his longstanding expertise in Universal Jurisdiction.

Global

Daniil Ukhorskiy

Daniil is a lawyer and investigator with expertise in documenting atrocity crimes in conflict affected areas and working with survivors of serious human rights violations. Daniil is based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and has worked on violations committed in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since March 2022. His other areas of interest include corporate accountability and environmental rights. Daniil holds a BA and BCL from the University of Oxford.

Middle East

Dayane Jammal

Dayane Jammal is Legal Information Officer in Lebanon. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Lebanese University- Branch 2 along with a Master’s Degree in nternational Organizations from the same university. Her role is to provide legal information and assistance to survivors from GBV and SGBV. Dayane joined LAW in February 2023.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Dennis McNamara

is Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at LAW. Dennis has more than three decades of international humanitarian experience during which he held several senior positions across the United Nations before becoming Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), Senior Humanitarian Adviser in 2007. Dennis has an Honours degree in law from Auckland University and practiced as a lawyer in the UK and Kenya before joining the UN.

Global

Emilie Dromzee

Emilie Dromzée is currently the Grants and Partnerships Manager for LAW.
She has nearly 20 years of experience in the non-profit and philanthropic sector, with a focus on human rights and international justice programme, network development and capacity building programme.  She has specialized expertise in European advocacy and has conducted human rights investigations in North Africa and the Middle East.
Emilie holds a Masters in European law.
She was previously working for TRIAL International building effective partnerships with donors sharing TRIAL’s vision of a world without impunity.
Before moving to Geneva, she was Programme Director for Ariadne, a leading network of European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights, where she managed the network’s core operations, supports the membership and helps to grow participation in Ariadne. Emilie started her career based in Brussels where she worked on human rights and democracy in the Middle East and North Africa and relations between the EU and Arab countries for Euromed Rights.

Global

Farha Waheed

Farha Waheed is LAW’s Head of Human Resources and Compliance, joining LAW in January 2020. Prior to LAW, Farha worked as HR & Operations Business Partner with ActionAid International, Refugee Action and at the British Transport Police delivering a responsive and customer focused HR service, employee cycle, staff development and embedding values and best practices. As a Chartered MCIPD professional she has considerable HR operational and strategic experience of over 16 years to support the smooth functioning and growth of LAW.

Global

George Demetriou

George Demetriou is LAW’s Grant Finance Manager.
George has been working in the NGO community for the past twenty years all of which within finance and strategic management. He spent ten years in relief and development within the Middle East and Eastern Europe region on behalf of World Vision International. George has been based in Geneva since 2013, partly with World Vision as well as an independent consultant, focusing on finance, policy, strategic partnership and collaboration within the humanitarian sector.  George joined the LAW team in 2022.

Middle East

Georges Tahan

Georges is a Legal Advisor at LAW. He is an attorney at law registered with the Beirut Bar Association, and a human rights expert. In 2019, he joined Legal Action’s team where he provided legal counselling and representation especially for stateless, migrant domestic workers, survivors of gender-based violence and vulnerable people. 
He is currently working under “Equality Through Legal Action” project. 

Middle East

Ghada Nicolas 

As a Legal Advisor at Legal Action Lebanon and an attorney at law registered with the Tripoli Bar Association, Ghada is dedicated to advocating for human rights and justice. Since joining Legal Action’s team in 2019, she has provided legal counseling and representation for marginalized and vulnerable groups. In addition to her role as a legal advisor, she is also an investigator specializing in PSEA and strategic litigation. Ghada’s work focuses on ensuring that the voices of the underserved are heard, and their rights protected. With a strong background in human rights law, she strives to make a meaningful impact in the fight for equality and justice.

Middle East

Ghiwa Haidar Ahmad

Ghiwa Haidar Ahmad is Lebanon’s Communications Coordinator. She is a communication professional with a master’s degree in Communication and Multimedia Journalism and over seven years of hands-on experience. She has held roles such as Communication Manager for media platforms, University Instructor at LAU, and Senior Communication Officer in NGOs. Ghiwa’s extensive background extends to journalism, where she has worked as a journalist and reporter across various media outlets and television stations. Her career path has strengthened her commitment to human rights and law, inspiring her to advocate for social justice through impactful storytelling and media engagement. 

Global

Global, Staff

Global

Global, Staff

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Helen Alderson

is an experienced humanitarian and public health leader with over 30 years of experience. She has held leadership positions with ICRC globally, specializing in areas such as humanitarian diplomacy, financing, protection, and partnerships. She has worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She has also served as CEO of the World Heart Federation and as a senior ESG analyst for the Ethos Investment Foundation for Sustainable Development. She is currently on the Board of the Humanitarian Finance Forum.

Middle East

Hussein Saadallah Hellani

Hussein is Lebanon’s HR and Logistics Coordinator. He is a highly skilled computer and communication engineer with an MBA in HR. With 7 years of experience in international and non-governmental organizations(I/NGOs), including 5 years dedicated to HR, he has proven track record in planning and implementing innovative HR systems. His focus on creativity, adherence to emerging HR and leadership trends, and commitment to enhancing employee wellbeing are central to his work. Hussein excels in strategic HR planning, driving the implementation of new HR concepts and studies that benefit both the organization and its employees, aiming to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity. 

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Ingrid Gubbay

is an experienced disputes lawyer at Hausfeld in London. She has a formidable track record in representing communities affected by human rights violations committed by major corporates across various industry sectors.

Africa

Ivy Shiechelo

Ivy is an international human rights lawyer based in LAW’s Nairobi office. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from Strathmore University and is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Prior to joining LAW, Ivy worked on the promotion of access to justice for refugee/migrant populations and universal jurisdiction avenues in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Ivy has also worked at Equality Now where her work focused on the promotion of legal equality through the implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa “Maputo Protocol”. As a legal coordinator, Ivy supports the South Sudan programme related to capacity building, transformative justice and accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes/conflict related sexual violence.  

Middle East

Jack Torbet

Africa

Jibril Sa’ed

Jibril is Somalia’s legal officer. He is a nationally licensed lawyer who has been deeply and practically involved in national laws and procedures and managed several protection projects as the role of protection officer. Jibril holds a double degree in law and Sharea, MS Monitoring and Evaluation, and pursuing Master of Public policy analysis.

Global

Juliana Laguna

Juliana works as Legal Adviser at Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), where she supports the implementation of legal and advocacy strategies pursuing justice and accountability to for women, girls and LGBTQIA+ persons affected by gender-based crimes in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. She is a qualified Colombian lawyer with a master’s degree in transitional justice, human rights and the rule of law and over six years of professional experience litigating and advocating for women’s rights issues with a specific focus on conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence and reparations. Before joining LAW, Juliana worked at the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), where she led the implementation of GSF’s strategy in Colombia in working with survivors and state institutions to ensure adequate and effective reparation measures for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. She also worked as Staff Attorney at Women’s Link Worldwide, where she developed and implemented strategic litigation and advocacy work concerning sexual and reproductive rights and access to justice, truth, and reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual and reproductive violence in Latin America and the Caribbean before national and international tribunals. Juliana has been a research consultant for Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice, and for the Center for Socio-legal Studies at Universidad de los Andes. 

Global

Kate Norton

Kate Norton is LAW’s Operations Director. She obtained her LLB with French from the University of Birmingham. She started her career practising as a solicitor in the UK for 7 years, specialising in property law, before taking a Masters in 2004 and switching to the humanitarian field. Before joining LAW, Kate has extensive experience working as a country director for NRC and DRC, as well as PROCAP for UNHCR in conflict settings across the world and has worked in Lebanon, South Sudan, CAR, Syria, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Burundi amongst other countries.

Africa

Kenya, Staff

Africa

Kenya, Staff

South Asia

Khaleda Jahan Bina

Khaleda Jahan Bina works as Programme Officer for the Rohingya Crisis Programme . With seven years of exemplary service in the humanitarian sector, Khaleda Jahan Bina has emerged as a distinguished professional in protection work. Her career is marked by a relentless dedication to safeguarding the rights and well-being of vulnerable populations in the most challenging environments. Khalada has completed her MBA from Cox’s Bazar International University, Bangladesh. She was a GBV Outreach Associate at Relief International before joining LAW. There, she oversaw all community leadership strategy initiatives under the SASA! Together methodology and provided women and girls with the tools they needed to mitigate risks. Besides that, she was a Psychological Support Officer at Good Neighbors Bangladesh, where she handled individual protection cases, age-appropriate case management for GBV survivors, and direct PSS assistance. 

Africa

Kirsty Hare

Kirsty Hare is LAW’s Programme Manager working in Africa. Kirsty studied Modern Middle Eastern History before converting to law and completing a LL.M in Public International Law in 2018, where she specialised in international humanitarian and human rights law. Her thematic focus was the use of detention in armed conflict and accountability of security forces. Before moving to LAW, Kirsty worked in legal aid, mental capacity law in London.

Middle East

Lebanon, Staff

Middle East

Lebanon, Staff

Middle East

Lebanon, Staff

Middle East

Lebanon, Staff

Former advisors

Michael Mansfield QC

is a high-profile barrister with extensive experience in human rights and criminal law. Over an illustrious career, he has represented many accused of high profile IRA bombings, the families of the Bloody Sunday victims and more recently, the families of the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Myrna Nakad

is a Founding Partner at Spark for Growth, a niche consultancy dedicated to driving transformative change. With over 30 years of experience, she specializes in organizational culture, team interactions, and leadership development and works across industries and geographies Her previous roles include positions at McKinsey & Company, JohnsonDiversey, Unilever, and the Netherlands Board of Tourism, where she developed and brought expertise in strategic communications and (change) leadership development.

Middle East

Nadine Ayoub

Nadine Ayoub, Finance Coordinator at Legal Action Worldwide in Beirut, Lebanon, brings extensive financial management expertise across the Middle East to the international NGO sector. With previous experience as Finance Manager at Citron Trading LLC in Dubai, UAE, Nadine optimized cash flow and led strategic financial initiatives. Her tenure at International Federation of Red Cross and Norwegian Red Cross demonstrated her commitment to humanitarian causes, managing financial operations across the MENA region. 
Armed with a bachelor’s in business administration and certifications including CertIFR and Certified Non-profit Accounting Professional, Nadine ensures compliance and effective financial stewardship through meticulous transaction processing, budget management, and grant coordination. Through her adept financial reporting skills, Nadine facilitates transparent communication crucial for organizational decision-making and donor relations. Her expertise enables effective resource allocation and strategic planning, driving positive change within the international humanitarian landscape.

Global

Nick Leddy

Nick Leddy is LAW’s Head of Litigation, joining LAW in August 2022. Nick is an experienced litigator in both domestic and international courts. Prior to joining LAW, Nick was a Trial Lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where he investigated and prosecuted war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. He worked across all stages of proceedings, including preliminary examinations, investigations, and trials. Previously, Nick served as a prosecutor in New York City at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. In that capacity, Nick investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases, including corruption, police violence, and sexual and gender-based violence. He also served for ten years as a member of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (Oxford UP). Nick is passionate about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He was a member of the Diversity Committee of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and later co-founded the ICC’s first LGBTIQ+ staff network, the ICC-Q. Nick also served on both the Racial Diversity and LGBTIQ+ Committees of the Interagency Diversity and Inclusion Network in The Hague. Nick is a member of the New York Bar.

South Asia

Nillasi Liyanage

Nillasi Liyanage is a Legal Advisor working on LAW’s Sri Lanka Programme which mainly focuses on providing legal and other essential service to victim-survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence and child abuse. Nillasi is an Attorney-at-law and holds an LLB (Hons.) from the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, and an LLM (Hons.) in International Human Rights (UK). Formerly she was the Legal Advisor on Detention for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sri Lanka. Prior to that she worked closely with the Families of the Missing in Sri Lanka as a Protection Field Officer of the ICRC in Colombo. She also worked as a Legal Research Officer to a Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. 

Global

Paloma van Groll

Paloma van Groll is a Litigation Officer on LAW’s global litigation team in New York City. She is a Canadian lawyer and member of the New York and Ontario, Canada bars. She previously worked in international justice and advocacy at the Global Justice Center, Human Rights Watch, and Crisis Action, and was formerly an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York City for almost five years. She has received an LL.M. from Columbia Law School, a J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and a BA.Sc. from McGill University.   

Former advisors

Professor Guy Goodwin Gill

teaches human rights and public international law at Oxford University. He is acclaimed for his writings on migration and asylum issues, having served as a Legal Adviser in the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 1976-1988.

South Asia

Roza Salibekova

Roza is Sri Lanka’s Programme Manager. She is a human rights lawyer from Kazakhstan who holds a degree in International Economic relations and in Law and LL.M in International and European Protection of Human Rights from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She was one of the 100 students in the world, who was awarded a scholarship from the Dutch government to pursue her LL.M studies. Roza has 20 years of legal experience, including experience of working as a legal advisor to judges at the UN international criminal tribunals in the Netherlands and Sierra Leone. She also managed human rights projects in Central Asia for various international NGOs, such as ABA/ROLI and ICNL. These projects focused on providing pro bono legal services for victims of human rights abuses and supporting civil society members. Roza also served as an UN expert to assess justice sector needs in Timor Leste. Roza is fond of music, theatre, literature and art and loves doing yoga, swimming and hiking in nature. Roza is a dedicated human rights lawyer, who wants to have an impact and contribute to making the world a better and safer place for everyone. 

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Ruth McCoy

has more than two decades of experience in the United Nations, government, public policy organizations, and non-profit sector. As Chief of Staff and Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation, she provided political support to Kofi Annan in his mediation roles in Kenya and Syria and established several initiatives promoting electoral integrity and peace processes. Her extensive experience has given her a broad perspective on international relations and the development sector.

Middle East

Samara Sarkis 

Samara Sarkis, Legal Information Officer under “Equality Through Legal Action” project. Samara provides legal information and legal assistance to migrant domestic workers, stateless people, GBV and LQBTQI community members. Samara has many years of experience in the Humanitarian 
Field, she has a bachelor’s degree in Law from the Lebanese University, and have participated in several human rights and international law trainings.

Middle East

Samer Chleiwit

Samer Chleiwit is a Legal Information Officer at LAW, where he provided legal information and assistance to the survivors of the Beirut blast. He is currently working on access to justice project for several communities such as stateless, migrants and gender-based violence. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law from the Lebanese University and has completed a master’s degree in international Organizations. Samer is an active human rights advocate. Additionally, he has obtained a Project Management certificate from the University of California, Irvine. 

Global

Severine Romero

Séverine Roméro is LAW’s accounting officer in Geneva. Severine holds a Swiss accounting diploma and two master’s degrees in social policy management and political Sciences. She is deeply committed to human rights and justice and is an active feminist since university. Her journey is atypical. Following an initial career phase in France, focusing on public sector financial control and grant management, she shifted her focus to administrative and accounting roles upon relocating to Switzerland 15 years ago.
Before joining LAW, Severine served in Finance at organizations including the World Young Women Christian Association (World YWCA), Humanitarian Dialogue Center, and Women International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Shamsul Bari

currently chairs Research Initiatives Bangladesh and previously had a distinguished UN career. Highlights include his role as UNHCR Regional Director for Central Asia, South West Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Simon Black

Having spent 20 years as a Partner at Allen & Overy based in Asia, Simon converted from Big Law to New Law and founded Lexical Labs, which utilizes technology to negotiate contracts. He loved negotiating deals but was frustrated by inefficiencies and wasted time and efforts. Simon is passionate about changing this. He aims to let machines handle the heavy lifting of repetitive tasks, thus liberating individuals to generate ideas, make informed judgments, and inspire others. His dedication also extends to aiding victims of conflict and violence who seek legal remedies and other forms of support during their recovery from war crimes and other trauma. with me a short bio that we can post on our website.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC

is an eminent London solicitor with many decades experience working on human rights actions. He is the founder of human rights firm, Bindmans LLP, and represented Amnesty International in the Pinochet cases in the late 1990s.

Africa

South Sudan, Staff

Middle East

Stefano Trevisani

Stefano Trevisan, LL.M, joined LAW as Legal Advisor in February 2023, bringing over ten years of experience as a practicing lawyer. He worked as junior lawyer at Dragone & Partners Law Firm in Venice (Italy), where he litigated civil disputes including environmental law, contracts, real estate, and torts. He served as Associate Legal Counsel and Leading Investigator at Lighthouse Reports, where he gained expertise in open-source investigation in the context of armed conflicts. He was trained at the ECCHR, the UNOCHR, and at the European Commission. Stefano lectures and coordinates Law Clinic programs at various universities, including in New York, Amsterdam, Padua, and Trento, and authored several publications in academic journals on related subjects.

Middle East

Syria, Staff

South Asia

Taro Tanaka

Taro Tanaka is a Japanese lawyer with experience in international human rights work, particularly focusing on gender issues. After he passed the Japanese national bar examination in 2011, he joined Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he handled various global investigation and dispute resolution cases. From 2020 to 2022, he worked for the OHCHR in Geneva as an Associate Human Rights Officer supporting the work of CEDAW and the Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity. Later, he joined the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict in New York as a Judicial Affairs Officer. Taro holds a JD from Keio University Law School and an LL.M. from NYU Law School, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. 

Middle East

Terry Flyte

Terry Flyte is LAW’s programme manager for the Middle East, where he leads legal teams promoting access to justice for marginalized populations in Lebanon and survivor-led accountability for international crimes and human rights violations in Syria. He is also LAW’s technical lead on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against men, boys and LGBTQI+ youth. Prior to working at LAW, Terry worked on projects documenting the links between detention and male-perpetrated sexual violence in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Central African Republic, Sri Lanka and Syria. Terry obtained his Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 2019, where he was awarded the Satter Human Rights Fellowship.

Middle East

Wajeeh Koussa

Wajeeh Kousa is working as Log. Assis/Driver at LAW HQ Lebanon. Wajeeh supports the team in arranging their movements and assists with the logistics of events. He is responsible for the security group as well and shares important information. Wajeeh studied Mechanical Engineer of Airplanes.

LAW’s UK, Dutch Board and Swiss Committee

Yusuf Abdi Hassan

is a member of the Kenyan Parliament for the Kamukunji constituency. He is a former director of IRIN, and has previously held senior posts in the United Nations.