Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Bios of staff

Christopher L. Avery (Director)

Christopher Avery is an international human rights lawyer who founded the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

From 1983 to 1995 Chris worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London, first as Legal Adviser, then as Deputy Head of the Research Department (the department then comprising 130 staff in 6 units: Africa, Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Legal & Intergovernmental Organisations).  His work at Amnesty included representing the organisation at the United Nations, undertaking research missions and trial observations in various countries, ensuring the quality and impartiality of country research, and serving as a member of the Senior Management Group.

After leaving Amnesty, Chris conducted independent field research on the extent to which companies were contributing to development and human rights projects in South Africa, India, Thailand and the Philippines. When he returned to Europe, he discussed human rights issues with multinational companies preparing to adopt human rights policies. He researched and wrote Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change, a 108-page report published by Amnesty International UK. He also served on the Advisory Group for the business & human rights project conducted by the International Council on Human Rights Policy (Geneva), which resulted in the report Beyond Voluntarism: Human rights and the developing international legal obligations of companies (2002).

In late 2000 he founded the Business & Human Rights Resource Website, which became the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in Sep. 2002.

His publications include:

• Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change (London: Amnesty International UK, Feb. 2000)

• "Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change," in M. Kamminga and S. Zia-Zarifi (eds.), Liability of Multinational Corporations under International Law (The Hague: Kluwer International Law, 2000)

• "Business and Human Rights," in V. Iyer (ed.), Democracy, Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Essays in Honour of Nani Palkhivala (New Delhi: Butterworths, 2000)

• "Refugee Status Decision-Making: The Systems of Ten Countries," Stanford Journal of International Law, vol. 19-2 (Oct. 1984)

In 1997 he was Stanford University’s seventh Visiting Mentor – a programme sponsored by the university’s Haas Center for Public Service that “brings distinguished professionals in public service to a week-long residency on campus, where they speak with students, faculty and staff.”

Chris was educated at Columbia University School of Law (LLM); University of California, Davis, School of Law (JD; Order of the Coif; Corpus Juris Secundum Award - awarded by faculty to graduating law student who “made the greatest contribution to legal scholarship”); and Stanford University (BA, Honours; recipient of Weter Prize – awarded by History Department for outstanding honours paper of the year: The Treatment of Black Prisoners of War by the Confederacy: The Case History of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment).

Chris is fluent in English, with some Spanish & French.

Joanne Bauer (Senior Researcher, New York Representative, HIV/AIDS Project Manager)

Joanne Bauer is a specialist in environmental issues, human rights, international policy and Asia.  From 1994 to 2005 she was Director of Studies at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (New York), where she founded their human rights program and environmental values program.  She was the Council’s Director of Japan Programs from 1991 to 1994 and before that held positions in banking, government affairs, and broadcast media. 

Joanne has organised, led and spoken at workshops, panel discussions, and seminars in the US and abroad.  At the Carnegie Council she developed and directed the fellows program, which attracted each year over 350 applications for five to nine fellowships designed for early career scholars and mid-career professionals.

Joanne was founder and editor of Human Rights Dialogue, a magazine published by the Carnegie Council from 1993-2005 that featured the perspectives of scholars, activists and other policy makers from around the globe working to put human rights theory into practice.  She edited Forging Environmentalism: Justice, Livelihood and Contested Environments, published by ME Sharpe in 2006, that presents new case material on environmental politics researched and written by leading Japanese, American, Chinese and Indian scholars.  She co-edited The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights published by Cambridge University Press in 1999.  Joanne served as a contributing editor to the journal Ethics & International Affairs, editor of Dialogue OnLine, the on-line companion to Human Rights Dialogue, and has authored numerous articles, reviews and conference reports.   She wrote "The Challenge to Interntional Human Rights", which appeared as a chapter in Constructing Human Rights in the Age of Globalization (http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/viewMedia.php/prmTemplateID/8/prmID/905).

Joanne earned her BA from Colgate University and her MA in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Joanne is fluent in English & Japanese.

Surabhi Chopra (South Asia Researcher & Representative, based in New Delhi)

Surabhi Chopra is a barrister in New Delhi with a background of human rights work in India. 

Surabhi was a human rights researcher in India with UNICEF, ActionAid and South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre; she worked with marginalised communities, including women in prison and homeless persons to improve their access to welfare programmes and legal services.  More recently, she has worked and interned with Kamal Hossain & Associates in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she drafted judicial review applications challenging illegal land acquisition by the government, and with Human Rights Watch in New York, where she monitored women’s political participation in the 2004 Afghan elections.  She has also worked as a management consultant in Boston, focusing on the telecommunications sector in Latin America.

Surabhi is a door tenant at Tooks Chambers, one of the leading civil liberties chambers in London.  While training as a barrister, Surabhi volunteered with the Free Representation Unit on employment and asylum cases and with the Bar Human Rights Committee and Reprieve on international litigation.

Her publications include “Legal Safeguards for Children’s Rights”, Focus On Children Under Six (2006) and “Right to Food in Bangladesh”, Human Rights in Bangladesh 2005, (2006).

Surabhi has a law degree (First Class) from Cambridge University and a Masters in Human Rights (Distinction) from the London School of Economics.  She earned her undergraduate degree in Social Anthropology from Harvard University (Honours, magna cum laude), where she did independent research in rural India on sexual violence and access to justice.

Surabhi is fluent in English and Hindi and speaks some Punjabi.

Aliou Diouf (Francophone Africa Researcher & Representative, based in Dakar)

Aliou Diouf is a Senegalese human rights advocate and lawyer.  He was previously Legal Advisor at Geneva for Human Rights, an NGO that provides training on the UN human rights system.  Before that, he interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Arusha, Tanzania) and at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva), and worked with the World Trade Organization.  He also worked as a social worker at a residential refugee centre in Geneva for many years.

Born in the village of Yenguélé, Senegal, he was educated at secondary school in Fatick, Senegal, and at high school (lycée) in Dakar.  He obtained his PhD in International Criminal & Humanitarian Law from the Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies in Geneva.  His doctoral thesis on universal jurisdiction over crimes against humanity was supervised by Professor Andrew Clapham.  He also has an LLM in International Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from Gdansk University in Poland.  He has completed human rights and international law short-courses at the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg), Geneva International Peace Research Institute, United Nations – Geneva and University of Helsinki.

Aliou’s publications include "La lutte contre l’impunité en Afrique. Enjeux et perspectives", in A. Ayissi & D.L. Tehindrazanarivelo (eds.), Les défis de l’Afrique au XXIe siècle (Geneva: Graduate Institute for International Studies, 2005)

He is a member of human rights NGOs including TRIAL (Track Impunity Always) and REFORMAF (Réseau de formation et de recherches sur les migrations africaines, specialised in migration issues).

Aliou is fluent in French, Polish, Serer and Wolof, and has strong English.

Mauricio Lazala (Head of Latin America and the Middle East & Senior Researcher)

Mauricio Lazala is an international lawyer with human rights experience in Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. 

He was previously a law clerk at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he worked at the Investigation Division of the Office of Chief Prosecutor.

During 2002-3 Mauricio worked in Mexico for NGOs including the Mexican Commission for the Protection and Defence of Human Rights, and Espacios Alternativos, working on a microcredit program for low-income women.  He also lectured in a course on international human rights and humanitarian law at Mexico’s National Commission for Human Rights.  In Israel, Mauricio was Outreach Coordinator at B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, and worked at the Public Committee against Torture in Israel. 

His publications include "Solutions for the Israel-Palestine Conflict", published in Per Incuriam - Magazine of Cambridge University Law Society (2004).

Mauricio was educated at Cambridge University (Law degree, Honours), where he was president of the Students’ Law Society of Wolfson College.  He obtained his BA in Political Science and History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he co-founded the first human rights student organization in Israel.  In 2001 he participated in the International Human Rights Exchange course at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. 

Mauricio is fluent in Spanish, English & Hebrew.

Abiola Okpechi (Anglophone Africa Researcher & Representative, based in Cape Town)

Abiola Okpechi is a lawyer and human rights advocate. Her previous experience includes working as a Refugee Counsellor with the University of Cape Town Law Clinic, and before that, as a Legal Officer in the Human Rights Unit of the Justice, Development & Peace Commission (JDPC), Archdiocese of Ibadan, Nigeria. She has also worked as a legislative aide in Nigeria’s Senate where she provided analytical and research assistance, especially for bills having a human rights perspective.

From 1998 to 2001 Abiola was the Abuja (Nigeria) Representative and Human Rights Coordinator for the Center for Development Action, where she coordinated the organization’s reproductive health and children’s rights advocacy programmes and served on the drafting panel of Nigeria’s National Reproductive Health Policy, and on the National Committee for the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001). Between 2001 and 2003 Abiola served as a facilitator/trainer in the North-South Centre’s annual summer university course on Human Rights in Molina, Spain, and as an intern with the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Ibadan.  There, she was part of the Federation’s election monitoring group during Nigeria’s 1999 general elections.

Abiola is author of “The protection of children and young persons under African refugee law”, the result of field research she conducted in the UNHCR refugee camp in Oru, Nigeria.

Abiola is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Cape Town, where her thesis examines the accessibility of the South African justice system to refugees and asylum seekers.  Abiola was also educated at the University of Ibadan (MSc Humanitarian and Refugee Studies); Nigeria Law School Abuja (BL); and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (LLB, honours).

She is fluent in Yoruba, Hausa and English, and is continuing her studies in French.

Gregory Tzeutschler Regaignon (Head of Research & North America Manager)

Gregory Regaignon is an international lawyer whose academic background includes degrees in African Studies and International Economics. 

Greg was previously an associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, a leading international law firm based in New York City.  At Cleary Gottlieb, Greg’s practice focused on restructuring sovereign, project and corporate debt in emerging market contexts.  Greg also had a significant pro bono practice at Cleary Gottlieb, working mainly on issues of political asylum, domestic violence, women’s rights and civil rights.  He has worked with Human Rights Watch in New York, the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, and the Legal Aid Institute of Indonesia, focusing on issues of labour rights, corporate responsibility for human rights, the environment and civil/political rights.  He also served as an election monitor for Indonesia Election Watch during Indonesia’s historic 1999 elections.

Greg’s publications include “Corporate Violator: The Alien Tort Liability of Transnational Corporations for Human Rights Abuses Abroad,” Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 30:359 (1999).

He obtained his JD (Stone Scholar) from Columbia Law School, where he also obtained his certificate from the Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law and was Senior Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and winner of the Gitelson-Meyerowitz Prize for Human Rights Writing.  He obtained his MA in African Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he was an editor of the SAIS Review, and received the African Studies Program Paper Award.  He conducted independent field research in rural Senegal on land rights issues, and published the results in the Journal of African Law.  He obtained his BA in Political Science magna cum laude from Amherst College.

Greg is fluent in English & French, with some Spanish.

Annabel Short (Head of Programme)

Annabel Short is an environmental journalist whose academic background includes Spanish, French and Development Studies.  From 2002-2003 Annabel was a consultant with Context, a London-based company specialising in corporate social and environmental reporting.

Before joining Context Annabel worked as a freelance journalist.  She has written for magazines such as Ethical Corporation, Geographical, and Tomorrow, and has written a book of environmental tips for The Ecologist (entitled Go Make A Difference!). Annabel contributed the working group statement on sustainable production and consumption to Why women are essential for sustainable development (results of the European Women’s Conference for a Sustainable Future, Prague, 2002).  She reported on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, for a UNEP-sponsored media project.

In 1999 Annabel worked in Lima, Peru, as a campaigns volunteer with Amnesty International and an intern at Reuters. She has also spent a year teaching English in Chile.

Annabel has an MSc in Development Studies from Birkbeck College (University of London), for which her dissertation examined security & human rights issues associated with oil extraction in Arauca, Colombia.  She also has a postgraduate diploma in Periodical Journalism from City University, London; MA Joint Honours in Spanish and French from Edinburgh University; certificate in International Human Rights Law and Practice from London School of Economics.

Annabel is fluent in English, Spanish & French.

Ella Skybenko (Eastern Europe/Central Asia Researcher & Representative, based in Kyiv)

Ella Skybenko is an international relations specialist.  Her previous experience includes working on issues related to the realization of women’s and children’s rights to health care.  From 2005 to 2006 Ella was HIV/AIDS Program Manager at Holt International Children’s Services in Ukraine, where she worked to increase access of HIV-infected children and their families to social, medical, educational and other services.  She also planned and coordinated relevant training and technical assistance activities that resulted in the development of the foster care program for HIV-affected children in Ukraine.

From 2000 to 2004, as Program Coordinator for the American International Health Alliance in Ukraine, she managed health care projects in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova and ensured that street children and disadvantaged women received quality services at clinics and wellness centers.

In 2007 Ella was an intern at Corporate Accountability International, where she worked with key allies in various countries to monitor, expose and challenge tobacco industry interference with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

In June 2008 Ella received her M.A. in International Human Rights from University of Denver, where she graduated within the top 5% of her class.  She has a degree in International Relations with a specialization in International Law from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine).  She also studied at Yerevan State University (Armenia).

Ella is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian and English.

Sif Thorgeirsson (Manager, Corporate Legal Accountability Project)

Sif Thorgeirsson, a national of Iceland & USA, was a Researcher at Yale Law School on international human rights issues (including business & human rights).  She was an associate at Troutman Sanders law firm in Washington, DC, where her practice focused on project development and finance in the energy sector, international law and corporate law. Sif received her law degree from George Washington University Law School in 1998.  While studying law, Sif worked as a research assistant to international law Professor Ralph Steinhardt, working on subjects including human rights and corporate responsibility.  Sif attended the Oxford University Summer Programme in International Human Rights Law.  She received her BA in History and Political Science from McGill University in Canada.  Sif is fluent in English & Icelandic, with some Spanish & French.

Joe Westby (Researcher & Operations Officer)

Joe Westby, a UK national, has a BA in Philosophy, Politics & Economics at Oxford University, where he specialised in International Relations and covered a wide range of human rights issues. He also has a Certificate in International Human Rights Law and Practice from LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights. Joe was previously a Research Intern at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, and in 2007 completed an internship at EIRIS (Ethical Investment Research Services). In 2003 Joe spent three months working with children on a voluntary project in a disadvantaged area near Lima, Peru.  He has also worked as a Learning Support Assistant in a school in London. Joe is fluent in English with some Spanish.

Ana Abraham (Research Intern)

Ana Abraham, a Chilean national, is currently completing an MA in Human Rights at Birkbeck College, University of London.  As part of her BA in Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Santiago she conducted research and fieldwork on Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement.  As a journalist she worked as a press officer of the first International Human Rights Film Festival in Chile.  Recently, she worked for the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture in London.  She also worked at the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) in Leicester.  Ana is fluent in Spanish and English with good Portuguese.

Rita Bonora (Research Intern)

Rita Bonora, an Italian national, completed her MSc in Development Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London -- her dissertation examined the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes of child soldiers with a gender perspective.  While studying, she was programme co-ordinator for the Volunteer Programme at Birkbeck.  Rita received her degree in Economics and Business Studies at Bologna University, Italy.  She worked as an analyst for an independent provider of financial information in London.  Recently Rita attended a programme in India focusing on participatory practices and community-led development initiatives.  She previously volunteered with Global Development Forum and Peace Brigades International.  Rita is fluent in English & Italian.

Marta Kasztelan (Legal Intern)

Marta Kasztelan, a Polish national, has recently concluded her Bar Vocational Course at the College of Law in London, where she was part of the pro-bono legal advice team.  Marta also has an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.  As part of her degree, she wrote a research paper on “The scope and meaning of corporate ‘sphere of influence’ with regard to human rights”.  Since October 2008 Marta has been working as the UK correspondent for the Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning.  In 2007 Marta interned with the AIRE Centre, a London based NGO, where she provided pro bono legal advice to those with rights arising under the European Convention on Human Rights and the EC law. Marta is fluent in Polish, English, and German with good French. 

Silvia Nicolaou García (Legal Intern)

Silvia Nicolaou García is a national of Spain and Cyprus. She is a final year student at Queen Mary, University of London, where she will complete an LLB in English and European Law. Silvia spent her third academic year at Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), Paris, where she obtained the “Certificat en Droit Français et Européen”. During her year abroad she worked with the Amnesty International Group at Sorbonne University, volunteered for Human Rights Watch Paris, and for other charities and NGOs. In 2007 she was a legal intern at the Islamic Human Rights Commission and was involved in the Queen Mary Student Pro Bono Group. In 2006 she was a finalist of the George Hinde Mooting Competition and was awarded the Best First Year Mooting Cup.  Silvia is fluent in Spanish, English and French, with good Greek and some German.

Tom Phillips (Research Intern)

Tom Phillips, a UK national, recently completed an MA in Human Rights at UCL’s School of Public Policy.  His thesis focused on the efficacy of UN monitoring of private military and security companies and encompassed studies of abuses in Angola and Colombia. He also has an intercalated BSc in Basic Medical Sciences from St George’s Hospital Medical School.  Tom has been involved with grassroots campaigns work through the Liverpool group of Amnesty, and has previously done work experience at a local newspaper.   Tom is fluent in English with some French.

Sophie Snowden (Research Intern)

Sophie Snowden is a US national.  She is entering her final year as a student at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. She plans on studying International Relations when she enters University in the fall of 2010.  In the spring of 2009, Sophie spent three months in Santiago, Chile on a cultural exchange, living with a host family and studying at the British Royal School.  Sophie is fluent in English, with good Spanish.