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REPRIEVE 2013 REVIEW
REPRIEVE 2013 REVIEW
CONTENTS
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR 4 DEATH ROWS WORLDWIDE 6 STOP LETHAL INJECTION PROJECT 10 STOP AID FOR EXECUTIONS 14 GUANTÁNAMO BAY 16 DRONES 20 RENDITIONS 24 SECRET COURTS 26 ACCOUNTS 28 THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS 30
Reprieve 2013 Review 32
REPRIEVE DELIVERS JUSTICE AND SAVES LIVES, FROM DEATH ROW TO GUANTÁNAMO BAY
Through a uniquely effective combination of legal action, public pressure, and engagement with those in power, Reprieve has made real progress on some of the world's most intractable human rights abuses. All the while, we’ve stayed true to our mission: defending those facing some of the harshest penalties and worst treatment around the world.
In both our key areas of work, this is clearly on display. The death penalty team's Stop Lethal Injection Project has seen executions across the US practically grinding to a halt as a result of restricted flows of execution drugs. There are now de facto moratoria on the death penalty in many states where more conventional approaches had seen little impact.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRKen Macdonald QC
2013 DEMONSTRATED MORE THAN EVER HOW, FOR A SMALL ORGANISATION, REPRIEVE HAS A PHENOMENAL ABILITY TO BOTH GET HEARD AND GET RESULTS.
Meanwhile, the Guantánamo team's approach to the hunger strike re-invigorated what had become a near non-existent debate about the continued existence of this legal black hole. Again, we combined litigation in the courts with a highly effective campaign to put the words and experiences of the detainees in front of the public (and their politicians).
Those two examples are emblematic of how Reprieve's agility and originality help us to succeed where larger organisations working in the same field perhaps do not. But they are just two among many. You can see from the opening pages of this report just how many people Reprieve has helped
and is helping to free from the threat of imminent execution, imprisonment without trial, torture, or obliteration by drone strike. Where that has not been possible, we have secured some form of accountability for victims of injustice and their relatives.
And this demonstrates the other key characteristic of this organisation - beyond agility and creativity - that makes Reprieve such a success. Whether at the end of a lethal injection needle or a drone-launched Hellfire missile, those facing the harshest penalties and the greatest injustices remain at the centre of our work.
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POLLY ROSSDALEUpdating the number of prisoners in Guantánamo following the release of our client Nabil Hadjarab.
USAIn Florida, we achieved positive outcomes for two prisoners on death row: Anthony Farina has been awaiting execution for 22 years, and was recently granted a new sentencing hearing; and the Florida District Court has ordered a retrial for Michael Fitzpatrick, on the grounds that he is almost certainly innocent.
Reprieve has continued to engage European countries in support of their nationals facing execution overseas. In 2013, we worked with European governments to submit supporting statements on behalf of four European nationals facing the death penalty in the United States. Also in the US, we instigated international litigation on behalf of two individuals with strong European ties facing death sentences.
DEATH ROWS WORLDWIDEFighting for prisoners facing a death sentence around the world
IN 2013, REPRIEVE SAVED PEOPLE FROM EXECUTION AROUND THE WORLD. FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, AND THAILAND TO PAKISTAN, OUR ACTIONS HELPED AVERT DEATH SENTENCES FOR 11 PEOPLE.
SOUTH EAST ASIAWe continued to work on the case of Lindsay Sandiford, a British woman sentenced to death on drugs charges in Bali, as well as a number of other cases in the region.
Reprieve obtained supporting statements from the UK government, three respected Indonesian human rights organisations, and seven associations of international lawyers in Lindsay’s defence.
LINDSAY SANDIFORDBritish grandmother sentenced to death in Bali, Indonesia.
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MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAFor the first time, we successfully challenged a capital prosecution based on evidence obtained from police torture in the UAE.
Grant Cameron, Suneet Jeerh and Karl Williams are three young Londoners who faced potential death sentences based on ‘confessions’ extracted under torture.
The three Britons were detained by police, badly beaten - one of their hands was broken - and subjected to electric shocks, before being forced to sign documents in Arabic (a language they do not understand). These documents were then used against them during their trial on drugs charges. All three were relased following a sustained campaign by Reprieve, which culminated in the British Prime Minister raising the case directly with the UAE's President.
Reprieve continues to work on the widespread problem of police torture in the UAE, including making many visits to Dubai Central Jail. During these visits, around three quarters of the prisoners told us that they had been tortured by police.
PAKISTANIn 2013, the newly-elected government in Pakistan threatened to lift a long-standing moratorium on executions - a grave move in the country which has the largest death row population in the world, believed to be around 8000 - 9000-strong.
Reprieve reacted quickly to this new danger, working with our partners Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) to assist some of those first in line to be executed.
At the same time, we were working with the EU and its member states to ensure Pakistan re-imposed its moratorium. Thankfully, Pakistan's government announced in October that it would be keeping the moratorium in place - although Reprieve will of course continue to keep a close watch on this issue.
GRANT CAMERON, KARL WILLIAMS AND SUNEET JEERHReleased from Dubai Central Jail after being tortured by police.
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSDEATH PENALTY
IN 2013, WE...ASSISTED OVER 70 EUROPEANS, INCLUDING 34 BRITISH NATIONALS, FACING THE DEATH PENALTY AROUND THE WORLD HELPED AVERT OR OVERTURN DEATH SENTENCES FOR 11 PEOPLE SECURED WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE WHICH PREVENTED THE EXTRADITION OF A YOUNG BRITISH NATIONAL, FRANK GAMBRAH, TO GHANA, WHERE HE WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN EXECUTED HELPED SECURE A NEW SENTENCING HEARING FOR ANTHONY FARINA AND A RETRIAL FOR MICHAEL FITZPATRICK IN FLORIDA SECURED THE PARDON AND RELEASE OF THREE MEN TORTURED BY DUBAI POLICE, AFTER AN EXTENSIVE MEDIA CAMPAIGN CULMINATING IN THE UK PRIME MINISTER RAISING THEIR CASE DIRECTLY WITH THE UAE’S PRESIDENT TOOK SWIFT ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THREATS THAT PAKISTAN WOULD LIFT ITS DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM, PROVIDING LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO THE FIRST 8 PEOPLE LIKELY TO FACE EXECUTION
Reprieve’s work with pharmaceutical companies to help them stop their drugs being used to carry out executions has vastly reduced the capacity of US states to kill. We’ve also opened up the debate around the death penalty, and the cruelty of an execution process which had previously been believed to be ‘humane.’
Reprieve's central role in this has been widely acknowledged, with CBS profiling Maya Foa, the head of our Stop Lethal Injection Project, under the headline ‘‘Meet the woman behind a shortage of execution drugs.’’
STOP LETHAL INJECTION PROJECTMaking sure that medicines made to treat patients are not used to kill prisoners
IN 2013, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF US EXECUTIONS WAS AT ITS LOWEST SINCE 2009 - THE YEAR BEFORE WE ESTABLISHED REPRIEVE’S HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL STOP LETHAL INJECTION PROJECT (SLIP).
WORKING WITH THE GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRYDuring 2013, we worked with 14 pharmaceutical companies who were producing drugs which were either being used or at risk of being used in executions. We helped them put in place distribution controls to ensure that their products could still reach legitimate medical users, but not executioners:
1. Fresenius Kabi2. Gland Pharma3. Hikma/West-Ward4. Hospira5. Merck6. Par Pharmaceuticals7. Sandoz8. Sun Pharma / Caraco9. Tamarang 10. Teva11. Siegfried12. Lundbeck 13. Sigma-Aldrich 14. Purdue Pharma
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MAYA FOADirector of Reprieve’s death penalty team and head of the Stop Lethal Injection Project.
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSSTOP LETHAL INJECTION PROJECT
IN 2013, WE...HELPED 14 PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES TO PUT IN PLACE DISTRIBUTION CONTROLS ON THEIR DRUGS PREVENTED DRUGS FROM BEING USED IN EXECUTIONS, LEADING TO EXECUTIONS BEING HALTED IN 29 US STATES PRESSURED THE UK, IRELAND AND DENMARK INTO ENDING SUPPORT FOR COUNTER-NARCOTICS PROGRAMMES IN IRAN WHICH WERE CONTRIBUTING TO HIGH NUMBERS OF EXECUTIONS IN THE COUNTRY
REPRIEVE’S ‘STOP AID FOR EXECUTIONS’ (SAFE) PROJECT AIMS TO END EUROPEAN STATES’ INDIRECT SUPPORT FOR EXECUTIONS IN COUNTRIES WHICH IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUGS OFFENCES.
After pressure from Reprieve, the British, Irish and Danish governments each made a public commitment to end their support for UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) projects in Iran. By providing financial and other support to the country’s counter-narcotics forces, these projects were directly contributing to the 331 executions in Iran for drugs offences in 2013 alone. This was the SAFE project’s first major win.
Reprieve continued to work on similar cases in Pakistan, such as that of a young British mother, Khadija Shah, who was facing a potential death sentence on drugs charges. Khadija was heavily pregnant when she was arrested, and allowed out of jail for just one day before her trial - the day she gave birth to her daughter Malaika, now one year old.
STOP AID FOR EXECUTIONSExposing the link between counter-narcotics aid and executions
KHADIJA SHAH AND BABY MALAIKAHeld in the notorious Adiala Jail, Pakistan.
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IN 2013, REPRIEVE RE-IGNITED PUBLIC AND POLITICAL DEBATE AROUND GUANTÁNAMO AFTER YEARS OF APATHY AND INACTION.
GUANTÁNAMO BAYRepresenting detainees held indefinitely without charge or trial
Against the backdrop of a widespread, peaceful hunger strike, Reprieve launched a high-profile publicity campaign, highlighting the brutal treatment of prisoners by the Guantánamo authorities.
First, in April, Reprieve placed a first-person account written by our client Samir Moqbel in the New York Times. It was the first time a detainee had been given the opportunity to speak out about his experiences, and in such a well-known and widely-read publication. The popularity of Samir’s piece led to a resurgence in
Guantánamo Bay stories across print and television outlets.
Second, in July, Reprieve worked with the Guardian on a film featuring the musician and actor Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) undergoing the ‘standard operating procedure’ for force-feeding used at Guantánamo Bay.
This powerful video, since nominated and shortlisted for a number of awards, went viral - more than 8 million people watched it on the Guardian’s website alone. It catapulted the continued existence of this ‘legal black hole’ –
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YASIIN BEY (AKA MOS DEF)Undergoing the ‘standard operating procedure’ for force-feeding used in Guantánamo Bay.
despite Obama’s years-old promises to close it – to the top of the US news and political agenda.
We also brought landmark litigation in the Washington, DC courts challenging the brutal force-feeding techniques used against our clients.
The combination of action in the courts and massive media coverage led to President Obama reinstating the office responsible for closing the prison, and measures to transfer detainees out of Guantánamo have noticeably stepped up.
In fact, in August 2013, Reprieve client Nabil Hadjarab was at last released to his home country of Algeria. He had spent 12 years in Guantánamo without charge or trial - the result of a catastrophic case of mistaken identity.
In the UK, Reprieve continued to work with British decision-makers to help the US close Guantánamo. We specifically focused on trying to bring last remaining UK resident Shaker Aamer back to his wife and four children in London. Shaker, like so many other detainees, has been held for over a decade, and has been cleared for release by both Republican and Democrat administrations. David Cameron raised Shaker’s case with President Obama at the G8 Summit in June, after Reprieve requested that he take action to bring Shaker home.
NABIL HADJARABFreed from Guantánamo Bay in August 2013 after 12 years of detention without charge or trial.
SHAKER AAMERHeld in Guantánamo for over a decade despite being cleared for release in 2007.
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSGUANTÁNAMO BAY
IN 2013, WE...CONTINUED TO REPRESENT 17 DETAINEES HELD IN THE PRISON SECURED THE RELEASE OF NABIL HADJARAB PLACED THE FIRST EVER NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED BY A GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEE, SPARKING PUBLIC OUTRAGE OVER TREATMENT OF DETAINEES MADE A SHORT FILM FEATURING YASIIN BEY WHICH WAS VIEWED BY OVER 13 MILLION PEOPLE SUCCESSFULLY ARGUED IN THE US COURTS THAT GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEES HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE THEIR TREATMENT IN FEDERAL COURTS CONTINUED TO SUPPORT SHAKER AAMER, THE LAST BRITISH RESIDENT IN GUANTÁNAMO
IN 2013, POLITICIANS IN WASHINGTON, DC CAME FACE-TO-FACE WITH VICTIMS OF SECRET US DRONE STRIKES FOR THE FIRST TIME, THANKS TO REPRIEVE’S WORK.
We organised two visits to the US for the relatives of Pakistani and Yemeni drone strike victims. The families met with members of Congress to explain the impact of the covert ‘targeted killing’ campaigns carried out by the CIA and US Special Forces in their home countries.
The visits also generated significant media coverage, allowing the American public to hear directly from civilian victims of these campaigns for the first time.
DRONESChallenging extra-judicial killing in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia
In Pakistan, Reprieve fellow Shahzad Akbar secured a landmark ruling in the Peshawar High Court that CIA drone strikes being carried out in the country were illegal, and ordering the Pakistani government to take steps to end them. The ruling was a crucial step towards real accountability for the many civilian victims of this covert bombing campaign.
Meanwhile, in London, Reprieve continued to assist Noor Khan, who lost his civilian father to a drone strike in Waziristan, north west Pakistan. We helped Noor bring a case against the UK government concerning its support for the strikes through the provision of intelligence. The case was a unique attempt to secure accountability for the UK’s secretive support for drone strikes, and was heard in the Court of Appeal in December 2013.
DRONES AND CORPORATE COMPLICITYReprieve has continued to identify not only the roles of governments in the secret drone war, but also the crucial part played by corporations. We identified UK telecoms firm BT as having a potentially important role, through the provision of a key high-tech link to a secret US drone base in Djibouti, from which strikes in Yemen are known to have been carried out.
Through a combination of publicity, investor engagement and legal action, we are seeking answers from the organisation about the part its technology may play in enabling drone strikes.JEN GIBSON
Reprieve lawyer at the congressional drones hearing in Washington, DC.
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DRONE STRIKE PROTESTover civilian deaths in Yemen.
NOOR KHAN & KAREEM KHANReprieve clients who lost family members in US drone strikes.
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSDRONES
IN 2013, WE...ASSISTED AROUND 200 RELATIVES OF DRONE STRIKE VICTIMS IN YEMEN AND PAKISTAN IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO SECURE JUSTICE ARRANGED THE FIRST-EVER VISITS TO THE US CONGRESS FOR DRONES VICTIMS’ RELATIVES FROM PAKISTAN AND YEMEN, ALLOWING THEM TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THE MEDIA ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES EXPOSED THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE UK GOVERNMENT AND BRITISH CORPORATIONS SUCH AS BT IN THE US’ SECRET DRONE PROGRAMME SECURED A RULING IN THE PAKISTANI COURTS THAT US DRONE STRIKES TAKING PLACE IN THE COUNTRY ARE ILLEGAL
WE ARE ASSISTING TWO FAMILIES WHO WERE KIDNAPPED, ‘RENDERED’ AND TORTURED IN A JOINT UK-US-LIBYAN OPERATION IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO SECURE ACCOUNTABILITY.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, a Libyan anti-Gaddafi dissident, and Fatima Boudchar, his wife, were kidnapped and flown to Gaddafi’s torture chambers in 2004. At the time, Fatima was pregnant. Reprieve has been assisting them with their case against the British government since 2011, and the UK courts are still considering it.
In December, a High Court judge ruled in favour of the British government, for fear of damaging our relations with the US. This was despite his belief
that Abdel Hakim and Fatima had a ‘‘well-founded claim.’’ He expressed his “concern” that such a case might not be determined, adding that ‘‘Parliamentary oversight and criminal investigations are not adequate substitutes for access to, and a decision by, the Court’’ The case will be considered by the Court of Appeal in 2014.
Along with Abdel Hakim and Fatima, we helped the al Saadi family - a father, mother, and four children aged 12
RENDITIONSHelping victims of rendition - also known as kidnap - secure accountability and justice
and under at the time, who were also kidnapped and ‘rendered’ to Gaddafi in 2004 - bring claims in the UK's secretive Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT). The families were concerned that British intelligence officers spied on their legally privileged communications with their lawyers, thereby endangering their right to a fair trial in their cases against the UK government.
These cases therefore bring together the recent revelations concerning mass surveillance with the sharper end of the ‘War on Terror’ - kidnap, rendition and torture.
SAMI & KHADIJA AL SAADIRendered with the assistance of British Intelligence to Col. Gaddafi’s torture chambers in Libya.
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSRENDITIONS
IN 2013, WE...REPRESENTED TWO FAMILIES WHO WERE RENDERED AND TORTURE IN THEIR ATTEMPTS TO SECURE ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE UK GOVERNMENT FOR ITS INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR ORDEAL
IN 2013, PARLIAMENT PASSED THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSALS FOR SECRET COURTS ACROSS THE CIVIL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Known as ‘Closed Material Procedures’ (CMPs), these secret courts will make it far more difficult for those who have been wronged by the government to bring a challenge against it and get to the truth.
Reprieve worked hard to increase awareness of the government’s plans – successfully working with papers from the Daily Mail to the Guardian to run a high-profile campaign against them. As a result, some concessions were made by ministers. These will lessen the negative impact of the new legislation.
However, CMPs remain a negative development which will make accountability through the courts significantly more difficult in the UK. Reprieve will therefore continue to monitor the impact of secret courts, both on our own cases – if and when the government attempts to make use of them – and more widely.
We have also identified a number of other government measures of potential concern, relating to abuses in the ‘War on Terror’: the expansion of citizenship-stripping, which has been compared to a form of ‘‘medieval banishment’’, and has seen Britons losing their nationality and subsequently being killed in US drone strikes; cuts to legal aid for people who are not resident in the UK - a proposal which would have a serious impact on the ability of those wronged by the British government overseas to hold it to account; and proposed limits on judicial review, which would again curtail the public's ability to hold the government to account for serious abuses. Cumulatively, these measures
will do a great deal to immunise the government from challenge in the courts for wrongdoing.
SECRET COURTSFighting for open and equal justice
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2013 HIGHLIGHTSSECRET COURTS
IN 2013, WE...HELPED SECURE CONCESSIONS TO THE UK’S ‘SECRET COURTS’ PLANS, THROUGH AN EXTENSIVE MEDIA AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGN
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Income from generated funds
Voluntary IncomeActivities for generating fundsInvestment IncomeIncoming resources from Charitable activitiesOther Incoming Resources
Total Incoming Resources
Unrestricted
£708,926£54,483£15,285
£372,852
£1,151,546
Restricted
£96,757
£976,460
1,073,217
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Costs of generating funds
Costs of voluntary incomeCharitable activities Governance Costs
Total Resources Expended
£235,629£1,001,203£25,635
£1,262,467
£12,904£897,122£938
£910,964
Net Income/(Expenditure) before transfersTransfer Between FundsTotal Funds @ 1 January 2013
Total Funds @ 31 Dec 2013
(£110,921)
£1,193,491
£1,082,570
£162,253
£174,259
£336,512
Total
£805,683£54,483£15,285
£1,349,312
£2,224,763
£248,533£1,898,325£26,573
£2,173,431
£51,332
£1,367,750
£1,419,082
INCOMING RESOURCES
Fixed Assets
Office EquipmentFurniture & Fixtures
£23,179
£23,179
Current Assets
Other DebtorBank & Cash
£294,028£1,249,110
£1,543,138
Current Liabilities
Trade CreditorsAccruals PAYE & NIC Creditorother creditors
£38,257£18,492£26,924£24,006
£107,679
Net Current Assets £1,435,459
Total Assets less Total Liabilities £1,419,082
Fund Balances @ 31st March
Restricted fundsUnrestricted funds
Total Fund Balances @ 31st Dec
£336,512£1,082,570
£1,419,082
BALANCE SHEET
2013
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIESFor the year ending 31 December 2013
29
Creditors
Due after more than one year £39,556
Reprieve 2013 Review 30
REPRIEVE’S WORK WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT OUR SUPPORTERS
THANK YOU...ANONYMOUS ASHURST LLP ATLANTIC PHILANTHROPIES AW.60 CHARITABLE TRUST JOSEPH ROWNTREE CHARITABLE TRUST BERTHA FOUNDATION ESMÉE FAIRBAIRN FOUNDATION EUROPEAN COMMISSION ETHICALL FRESHFIELDS BRUCKHAUS DERINGER GARDEN COURT CHAMBERS GOOGLE GRANTS HARGREAVE HALE HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS HUMANADE LUSH THE LAURA KINSELLA FUND MATRIX SPECIAL CAUSES FUND OAK FOUNDATION OPEN SOCIETY GLOBAL DRUGS POLICY THE BROMLEY TRUST THE BRYAN GUINNESS CHARITABLE TRUST THE DAVID AND ELAINE POTTER FOUNDATION THE HOLLICK FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST THE FOLIO SOCIETY THE REED FOUNDATION THE ROBERT GAVRON CHARITABLE TRUST THE RODDICK FOUNDATION THE PERSULA FOUNDATION THE SIGRID RAUSING TRUST THE TINSLEY FOUNDATION REED SMITH LLP THE TOLKIEN TRUST THEMIS FUND, A PROTEUS FUND INITIATIVE SUTTON PLACE FOUNDATION UK FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTARY FUND FOR THE VICTIMS OF TORTURE VITAL PROJECTS FUND VIVIENNE WESTWOOD WILD PICTURES
