Reprieve US

Reprieve U.S. uses strategic interventions, individual cases and public pressure with the aim to end the use of the death penalty worldwide, and to end the most extreme abuses carried out by states in the context of the so-called “war on terror” – including torture, rendition, illegal detention and extra-judicial killing.

To achieve our mission, we carry out in-depth investigations into the use of the death penalty and the implementation of counter-terrorism policy. We then litigate cases of strategic significance in order to seek some measure of justice for our beneficiaries and create a public record of abuses committed. Many of the people we assist do not have access to meaningful justice through the courts, so we fight their cases in the court of public opinion. By humanizing victims of extreme human rights abuses, extraordinary shifts can be brought about in the minds of influential decision-makers and the public.

The area we operate in is dynamic and fast moving. As a smaller organization, we need to be agile and strategic in terms of who we represent and how we use their stories to effect change. Where it becomes apparent that a particular case or campaign is successfully capturing the public imagination and thereby shifting the debate on the issues with which we engage, we invest more resources in it and maximize our ability to have an impact for that individual and the broader issue. If a strategy is not working, we stand back from it until a better time, or we re-evaluate and adapt.

Ultimately, Reprieve U.S.’ primary resource is its people, their commitment, experience and ability. Almost all Reprieve U.S. staff could earn considerably more elsewhere, but they are bound to the organization because they are offended on a profound level by the peculiar hypocrisy of using systems of justice to create spaces for abuse whether in the execution chamber or legal black holes such as Guantánamo Bay.

Although Reprieve U.S. is a smaller nonprofit, we regularly achieve impact that vastly outstrips our size because we are dynamic and creative in approach, and we leverage our modest resources by working in strategic partnership with our larger sister organization Reprieve, grassroots partners and fellows in the U.S. and all over the world, and with pro bono counsel from top law firms. These firms have resources far beyond our own and are able to undertake tasks that we simply do not have capacity for, but that greatly enhance our work. These relationships make Reprieve U.S. a truly global organization and are vital to our success.

As lawyers and investigators, and through our Fellows and partner organizations all around the world, we have close proximity to those we assist and are uniquely placed to make the voices of these individuals heard: we meet with them in person, thereby developing a factual portrait of their case and conditions of imprisonment, as well as an understanding of their personal story. We often also enjoy an authority to speak on their behalf and tell their stories in a way that more traditional campaigners do not. Our Fellows, partner organizations and consultants are renowned for their work, and are key to developing trust and gaining access to those whose rights we seek to defend.

In partnership with our larger sister organization, Reprieve, activists and NGOs all over the world, and pro bono counsel at law firms: we fight for justice and we save lives. To date we have:
 Saved well over 500 people from death rows around the world;
 Secured the release of 80 men from the Guantánamo Bay, and we continue to be the largest legal presence at the facility, representing seven of the remaining detainees;
 Secured the release of over 140 former death row inmates in Malawi through the Resentencing Project. Not a single person has been re-sentenced to death, and total abolition of the death penalty is now a real possibility;
 Advised more than 50 global pharmaceutical companies taking steps to prevent their medicines from being misused in lethal injections;
 Through the unique Life After Guantánamo project, helped over 100 ex-detainees and their families to rebuild their lives, with a 0% recidivism rate.

Looking ahead, we will continue to chip away at the use of the death penalty one case and strategy at a time, limiting its application until it is eventually relegated to the history books. We will also continue to elevate the stories of victims of abuses in counter-terrorism, giving them a platform to share their experiences. By exposing the human costs of human rights abuses, we will speak truth to power, changing public perception and holding to account the world’s most powerful governments.