ANNUAL REVIEW 2011-2012
Working for fair trials around the world
Working for a world where every person’s right to a fair trial is respected, whatever their nationality, wherever they are accused
Front cover (from top-left clockwise) Muhammad Geloo Read about Muhammad’s five-year ordeal in Saudi Arabia. Interview on pages 24–25. Graham Mitchell Read about Graham’s Portugese extradition ordeal. Interview on pages 4–5. Benny Wenda Read about Benny’s fight to remove a politicallymotivated Interpol red notice from Indonesia on page 14. Natalia Gorczowska Read how Natalia fought extradition to Poland on page 9. 2 www.FairTrials.net
Credits Photographs: David Thomson Design: Pretty.co.uk Print: Dotprint Ltd Registered with limited liability in England and Wales Nº 7135273 Registered charity Nº 1134586
Contents Chair’s Foreword Chief Executive’s Report Direct Assistance Strategic Priorities European Defence Rights Extradition Reform Interpol Pre-Trial Detention Consular Assistance Finance and Funding Accounts Networks Who We Are
2 3 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 26 27
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 1
Chair’s Foreword
The right to a fair trial is the defining characteristic of a just society, without which the rule of law and public confidence in the justice system cannot exist. That is why the work of Fair Trials International is so important. As one of the leading international advocates for the right to a fair trial, Fair Trials International is widely influential and respected. This is due to the quality of our policy and campaigns work, and also because our work is informed by the serious cases of abuse suffered by our clients in countries all over the world. These cases provide irrefutable evidence of the human cost of injustice.
“The work of Fair Trials International has been very instructive and helpful in showing that mutual recognition and mutual trust need to work together.”
Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship We are a pragmatic organisation. We do not shout from the rooftops unless it provides the best way forward, but prefer to focus on achieving real change where this is a practical possibility.
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To give one instance, we are not demanding the abolition of existing extradition arrangements within the European Union: effective extradition systems are vital to fighting serious crime and terrorism across Europe’s increasingly open borders. Instead, we are urgently seeking new safeguards for the individual, to protect against disproportionate and abusive use of the European Arrest Warrant. In this, we are making significant headway. We could not pursue our vital fair trial objectives without the generous support of our funders. We are hugely grateful to those individuals and organisations that have funded our work over many years and are also delighted that a number of new funders have decided to support us, including the Oak Foundation and Global Criminal Justice Fund of the Open Society Foundations. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Fair Trials International’s staff, interns and volunteers. Through their dedicated and high quality performance they are not only helping vulnerable people in custody across the globe; they are also advancing the cause of justice for us all. Peter Lipscomb OBE Chair
Chief Executive’s Report
On 7th March this year, a woman called Laura Mitchell telephoned Fair Trials International and explained that her husband, Graham, had been arrested at their home and taken into custody. He was wanted to stand trial for murder in Portugal after an alleged incident 18 years earlier. Graham was one of several thousand people arrested each year under a European Arrest Warrant. In many ways Laura’s call was not unusual: we receive hundreds like it every year from family members seeking our help after they learn that a loved one is facing criminal charges in a foreign country. Graham’s case, though, shows how Fair Trials International helps individuals in desperate need of support, while also having a much broader impact on the underlying causes of injustice. Graham’s ordeal did not start in 2012; he had, in fact, been arrested while on holiday in Portugal in 1994. At that time, he spent a year in a Portuguese prison awaiting trial, reported being subject to brutal mistreatment, and the prison conditions made it almost impossible for Graham to prepare his defence. Sadly, a major report published by Fair Trials International last year showed that, nearly twenty years later, there are still
systemic problems with pretrial detention regimes, not only in Portugal, but across Europe (see page 16). We were already familiar with Graham’s case because Fair Trials, then in its infancy, had helped him in Portugal back in the early 1990s. We worked on a documentary about the case which showed how Graham was eventually cleared by a Portuguese court. What neither Graham nor we knew until his arrest this year was that, in 1995, his acquittal was appealed by prosecutors and overturned, and a retrial was ordered. Thankfully, our network of legal experts across the world has expanded enormously since 1994. Within Europe, our Advisory Panel is now over 80 strong with members from 24 countries (page 26). We referred Graham to excellent lawyers in both the UK and Portugal, a service we provided to several hundred people last year. Between us, we were able to persuade Portugal to withdraw the Arrest Warrant against Graham because, so many years after Graham’s first trial, a fair retrial would be impossible.
Our work did not, however, end there. Graham’s case provided another high-profile reminder of how measures designed to fight crime are open to misuse and of the toll this can take on the individuals affected and their families. By continuing to highlight shocking cases like Graham’s, we have sustained public and political pressure for fairer extradition laws, as well as reforms to prevent excessive pre-trial detention and to ensure better respect for basic defence rights in Europe. In this way, we have made real progress towards our vision of:
“a world where every person’s right to a fair trial is respected, whatever their nationality, wherever they are accused.” See Graham’s interview, over page. Jago Russell Chief Executive
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 3
Graham Mitchell
Graham was arrested in March 2012 following an EAW request from Portugal. There is more information on his case in the Chief Executive’s report (page 3). What went through your mind when police officers came to your door with a European Arrest Warrant? When the police sat down and said there’s a warrant issued by Portugal for your arrest for first degree murder, as soon as he said Portugal, I don’t remember an awful lot afterwards. It was a real kick in the teeth; I was confused and very, very frightened. What sticks in your mind from your original trial? The trial was very theatrical; there was a great sense of drama to it. It was all carried out in Portuguese – it was very frightening and very difficult to understand. We had a translator, but she was in between us and the Judge’s bench. The speed of the Portuguese language made it very difficult for her to pick everything up. The language barrier was the main problem.
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You are a carer to your two step-children – how hard it was to tell them what you faced? The kids were aware that I was leaving with the police, so it fell to my wife to break the news. I tried my best to reassure them. Both the kids have varying degrees of learning difficulties and mental health issues. It’s an ongoing situation with them – they see a police car in the road, and they visibly stiffen. My son is still very worried and often asks ‘will the police take you away if they speak to you again?’ What do you think helped you the most throughout your ordeal? When someone gets into trouble with authorities abroad, it’s not like getting into trouble in your own country. You have the language barrier, completely different legal system; it’s something you know nothing about. It’s difficult to speak to people who aren’t aware about the differences in cultures, the laws, and things like that. Without Fair Trials International, you couldn’t cope – no one could – without your expertise and the expertise of the legal people you recommend. Do you feel that you are able to finally put this ordeal behind you? We’re obviously elated that the EAW is not hanging over
us, but the mind goes back to 1996 when we were told that it was all over the first time. I don’t feel that I can ever travel abroad again – which is not only unfair on me, but also unfair on my family – because such is my worry that this can happen again, even though the Portuguese say the statute of limitations has passed. I’ve tried to get back to work, but my mind hasn’t been in it – I just don’t feel comfortable. It took 18 years to put the feeling of hopelessness from the original trial behind me. I still suffer flashbacks from my time in prison in Portugal – and the EAW has basically set me back another 18 years.
“I don’t feel that I can ever travel abroad again – which is not only unfair on me, but also unfair on my family.” Graham Mitchell
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 5
Direct Assistance
We have now been helping people facing criminal charges outside their own country for twenty years. These people often have no knowledge of the local language and legal system and no ties with the local community. They often experience difficulties in finding the right person to speak to and, as a result, tasks which might seem relatively simple under normal circumstances, such as finding a lawyer, can present enormous challenges.
“The work of Fair Trials International and other organisations is very important.” British Prime Minister, David Cameron, March 2012
Helping people facing challenges like these has remained at the heart of our work over the past year and we have made some significant improvements to the way we do this. We now provide assistance to everyone who seeks our help, giving advice and information and making referrals to local experts where appropriate. We cannot, of course, replace the need for a local lawyer and cannot give case-specific legal
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15% 15% of all requests for assistance between April 2011 and March 2012 came from the USA. Second was Spain with 13%. Third was the UK with 8.4% of all requests. advice to each of the hundreds of people who come to us, but we can help people access local legal expertise and understand the case against them and the legal issues it raises. We have never charged for any of the help we provide. For people facing charges in a foreign country, and for their loved ones at home, one of the greatest challenges is not understanding how the legal system works; how long you could be held before trial; or what is going to happen in court. Over the past year we have produced a series of “notes
Case Study Pablo Hernandez Pablo (not his real name), a 63 year old man, was arrested in Greece in 2009 with his then girlfriend on suspicion of committing drug offences. Pablo was released on bail but is prohibited from leaving Greece. No date has yet been set for Pablo’s trial. Living with this uncertainty has had a devastating effect on Pablo’s life. As a foreigner in Greece with no job, home or family, he struggles to support himself financially and is not receiving assistance from his consulate as this is only provided to people who are in prison. Because Pablo cannot leave Greece, he was unable to attend his own father’s funeral in 2011. We have called for Pablo to be given a prompt trial and lobbied his political representatives to urge them to support our calls for an end to the unjustified delays.
of advice” containing basic information and advice on criminal proceedings and defence rights in 11 different countries. We have also produced practical guidance on specific issues frequently faced by non-national defendants. Since the publication of these notes in late 2011, we have distributed over 240 of them to people all over the world and many more have accessed them through our website and through Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Following positive feedback from our clients, we have decided to produce more notes of advice in the coming year. We are enormously grateful for the assistance we have received from our network of lawyers in Europe and North America and from pro-bono supporters in a number of London-based law firms.
9%
of our clients over the last year reported that they had been subject to mistreatment.
Another priority for the year ahead will be continuing to build on the network of criminal defence lawyers across the world to whom we can refer people who are in desperate need of effective legal assistance. We will also continue to increase the pool of pro-bono lawyers who are willing to give freely of their time and expertise to help us respond to the hundreds of requests we receive for help each year.
Case Study William ‘Billy’ Burton Billy was arrested in the Philippines in possession of cannabis and was sentenced in 1992 to 30-years imprisonment, with the possibility of parole after eight. However, due to changes in the drug laws of the Philippines, his sentence was retroactively increased to 40 years, with no possibility of parole. Billy suffers from a number of birth defects as a result of his mother having taken Thalidomide during her pregnancy. His health was deteriorating seriously while in prison. Fair Trials International supported Billy’s pardon application, making representations to the Filipino President and giving strategic advice to family members and Billy’s wider support networks. Billy was pardoned in December 2011, and returned home in April, where he is now starting to rebuild his life.
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 7
Strategic Priorities
Through our Direct Assistance work, we have prevented serious individual cases of injustice but these cases also show us the underlying causes of unfairness in criminal cases. We work hard to tackle these systemic problems through policy and law reform activities and, in December 2011, decided to focus these activities on four broad areas: Defending Fair Trial Rights in Criminal Cases: The right to a fair trial is recognised internationally as a fundamental human right. Despite this, our clients’ cases continue to show that, for many people, the challenges to obtaining a fair trial are enormous. On pages 10–11 you can read about the progress that we are making, starting in the European Union, to improve respect for basic procedural rights.
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57% of the people who contacted Fair Trials International last year reported some form of fair trial abuse.
Enshrining Human Rights in Cross-Border Criminal Justice: States must work together to fight cross-border crime but our clients’ cases repeatedly show how this can needlessly result in an erosion of basic human rights. On pages 12–13 you can read about Fair Trials International’s work for fairer extradition laws in Europe (see also, Natalia’s case on the next page); on page 14 you can read about our work for reform of Interpol.
Fighting Unjustified Pre-Trial Detention: Despite the presumption of innocence and the right to liberty, thousands of prisoners across the globe have not been convicted of any offence. Over the past year, Fair Trials International has campaigned for effective action to tackle excessive and unjustified pretrial detention in Europe (read more on pages 16–17). Promoting Effective Consular Assistance to People Arrested Abroad: Consular assistance can provide a lifeline to people arrested abroad and their loved ones at home, and states are uniquely well-placed to challenge grave violations of their citizens’ fair trial rights. Read about our work to improve consular officials’ understanding of international fair trial standards on page 18.
Case Study Natalia Gorczowska When she was 17, Natalia was arrested in Poland for possessing a small amount of drugs and given a short suspended sentence. Following the death of her mother, Natalia travelled to the UK, turned her life around and gave birth to a son. Unfortunately, Natalia had not informed her parole officer that she was leaving Poland and her sentence was reactivated. A European Arrest Warrant was issued and, in December 2011, Natalia was arrested. We have long been concerned about the human and financial costs of disproportionate uses of the Arrest Warrant. In Natalia’s case, for example, extradition would have led to her baby being taken into care. Thankfully, after publicising Natalia’s case, Poland withdrew the extradition request. Our work to highlight cases like Natalia’s has also had a broader impact. Her case was, for example, cited by the UK’s Supreme Court as evidence of the need for judges to look more carefully at the human impact of extradition. Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 9
European Defence Rights
Serious fair trial abuses are reported to us every month by people arrested in countries all over the world. Improving respect for basic procedural rights in Europe (the source of over half of all of our cases) has remained a priority for our law reform work over the past year.
“Defence rights organisations like Fair Trials International have pinpointed failings in the arrest warrant. Problems with it being used for minor offences, the lack of legal representation, long pre-trial detention periods, and bad detention conditions are all cited as reasons.” Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP
By drawing on our clients’ shocking stories of injustice we have maintained political support for new EU laws to ensure that fair trial rights are better protected throughout Europe. Our cases are repeatedly cited in debates in the European Parliament as evidence of the need for these
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new laws and, by working with policy-makers, we have ensured that strong measures have been passed.
19%
of the people who requested our help last year reported a lack of access to translation and interpretation.
Interpretation and translation An issue we see often is the language problems that come with facing criminal charges in a foreign country. A new EU law, which will come into force in 2013, will help to tackle this by giving anyone facing criminal charges in an EU country, who does not understand or speak the language, the right to an interpreter during police questioning and court hearings and the right to written translations of key documents.
Right to information For many years, we have highlighted the need for defendants to be given information about their rights. Unless a person knows about their rights, they will not know to exercise them. This work bore fruit in April 2012 when a new EU defence rights law was passed which will require anyone arrested in a European country to be given a “Letter of Rights” when they are arrested and to be provided with information on the case against them.
12%
of those who contacted us last year reported that their lawyers were incompetent, ineffective, unethical or corrupt.
Over 13% of our clients reported being denied access to a lawyer during their police interview.
Access to a lawyer Our cases show time and again the injustices that can arise when people are denied access to a lawyer during police questioning and before trial. We were delighted when, in June 2011, the European Commission proposed a new law to address this problem. We have defended the measure against attacks by a number of Member States, who have argued that the proposals go too far. In the months ahead, we will continue to press for agreement on this important human rights safeguard.
Right to communicate on arrest Another crucial safeguard would guarantee suspects the right to communicate with consular officials on arrest and to notify a person the suspect nominates of the arrest. A lifeline for people arrested far from home, this is also an important safeguard against mistreatment.
Case Study Mohammed Abadi Mohammed Abadi (not his real name), an Iraqi with British refugee status, was arrested in Spain for alleged terrorist activities. After his arrest, he was taken to a “medical facility”, stripped and humiliated. He was interrogated without a lawyer and threatened with a gun. For the next two years, Mohammed was detained in appalling conditions, denied access to a lawyer or consular help. When he was finally granted “local” bail, it was under strict conditions: his passport was confiscated and he was not allowed to work. As a result, he became homeless. When he did manage to find accommodation, it was regularly searched by police officers. Mohammed was finally brought to trial in 2010, nearly five years after his initial arrest. He was acquitted after a cursory hearing lasting several minutes, on the basis that there was no evidence against him. He continues to suffer from severe anxiety and depression as a result of his ordeal.
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 11
Extradition Reform
Thousands of people across Europe are removed from their homes and families every year to be extradited under European Arrest Warrants. Effective extradition arrangements are, of course, key to fighting serious crime across borders, but cases like Graham Mitchell’s (page 4–5) and Natalia Gorczowska’s (page 9) demonstrate the injustice that is being caused by inappropriate uses of the Arrest Warrant. Over the past year we have continued our work for a fairer extradition system, starting with our event in the European Parliament last year and the launch of our major report on the first seven years of the Arrest Warrant System.
“The most detailed and comprehensive criticisms [of the European Arrest Warrant] were helpfully provided by Fair Trials International.” Report of the UK’s extradition review panel, headed by Lord Justice, Sir Scott Baker
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Our key demands for reform are simple and include: • A proportionality test to stop Warrants being issued for minor offences;
Case Study Edmond Arapi
• A requirement to withdraw a Warrant where it has been properly refused by the court of one EU country; • Delayed extradition until the country is ready for trial to prevent people being extradited to then spend months or years in a foreign jail on remand; and • An explicit obligation for countries’ courts to refuse extradition if there is evidence that a person’s human rights will be breached as a result. These reforms must, of course, be accompanied by concrete steps to improve protection for basic defence rights in Europe and to prevent unjustified pretrial detention.
Edmond faced extradition to Italy in 2009 after being sentenced by an Italian court in his absence to 16 years’ for a murder committed in 2004. Despite being able to prove that he had not left the UK between 2000 and 2006 and could not have committed the crime, British courts ordered his extradition. It was only after a highprofile campaign by Fair Trials International that Italy finally accepted it had convicted the wrong man and withdrew the Warrant. In March 2012, with the help of a member of our Legal Experts Panel, Edmond and his family took a case in Italy to ask for compensation for their ordeal. In July, they were awarded nearly £18,000.
We have generated press coverage across Europe (including the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Greece, the UK and Portugal) and have continued to lobby domestic governments for changes to the way they have implemented the Arrest Warrant in their own laws.
“Reform of our extradition laws is long overdue... we hope you will use your voice and your votes to demand urgent action by the Government.” Six of our clients, all victims of the European Arrest Warrant, wrote a joint letter urging politicians to vote for extradition reform
In November 2011, for example, a major report on the UK’s extradition arrangements was published. We had submitted detailed evidence to the review and were pleased that many, though not all, of our recommendations for reform were adopted. Following recent lobbying by Fair Trials International in the Republic of Ireland, an extradition review was also announced in the Oireachtas (Ireland’s National Parliament).
Fig 1: European Arrest Warrant numbers across the EU
Based on responses to the European Council questionnaire on the EAW.
“Because of Fair Trials International the European Parliament has become more aware of the abuse of the European Arrest Warrant and the devastating consequences it has.”
Robert Horchner, a Dutch national extradited to Poland and held in horrendous conditions for 10 months
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Interpol
Interpol is the largest international policing organisation, with 190 member countries and a budget of approximately €60m. It is best known for issuing red notices: international wanted person alerts published on its electronic network at the request of its members.
Red notices can have a devastating human impact. In some countries, a person with a red notice is automatically arrested, detained and sometimes extradited. This can happen without a proper judicial process or any right of challenge. Threats like these can make it impossible to travel for fear of what will happen at the border. Red notices published on Interpol’s website also destroy reputations. The people subject to them are labelled “international criminals” and often have their bank accounts closed and lose their livelihoods.
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Even though some of Interpol’s member countries are known human rights abusers and notoriously corrupt, Interpol has no effective mechanisms to prevent countries, or even individual prosecutors, abusing the red notice system. As a result countries have used red notices, not as a legitimate crime-fighting tool, but to target exiled dissidents, activists and journalists.
In 2012 we met with members of the Commission and with Interpol’s General Secretariat to discuss our concerns. We are very grateful for their willingness to engage with us to help us identify improvements that could be made to insulate Interpol from abuse and give effective recourse to people affected by inappropriate red notices without undermining the organisation’s effectiveness.
People in this situation have no independent court they can turn to for redress. Their only option 7,678 Red Notices were is to appeal to the Commission issued by Interpol in 2011 for the Control of Interpol’s Files, which oversees Interpol’s – a 21% increase from 2010 activities. You have no right to a hearing, no opportunity to respond to allegations against We believe two reforms are you and will be given no reasons needed: (i) better internal for the decision reached. Even controls so that Interpol can if the Commission concludes identify potentially abusive that a red notice is inaccurate or red notice requests before the abusive, it can only recommend information is circulated across its removal. the globe; and (ii) the creation of an independent body, bound by basic rules of due process and transparency, to give affected individuals a fair chance to challenge red notices.
Case Study Benny Wenda Benny Wenda was given asylum in the UK in 2002 after he fled Indonesia, where he had suffered persecution, death threats and a politically-motivated prosecution due to his peaceful activism for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He has continued his campaign in exile. As the profile of Benny’s advocacy has grown, so too have the Indonesian Government’s attempts to undermine him. The country used Interpol to publish a red notice against Benny. The notice related to the same politicallymotivated charges from which Benny had fled over 10 years ago. The red notice meant he was no longer safe to travel to attend campaign meetings and meet other West Papuan refugees. We publicised Benny’s case and made an application to Interpol’s data protection body, the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files, arguing that his red notice is politically-motivated. Interpol has now recognised that Indonesia has abused Interpol’s systems and the red notice has been removed. Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 15
Pre-Trial Detention
Case Study Andrew Dmytruk
Time and again we are contacted by people who have been held in prison for months or years before their trial even starts. Many are ultimately cleared of any wrong-doing, but after years in prison, their lives are often already in tatters. Persuading the EU to take effective action to tackle this problem has been a priority for us over the past year.
40.1% of the total prison population in Italy is in pre-trial detention.
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, April 2012 In November 2011, we published a detailed report containing the shocking stories of our clients whose lives have been turned upside down by the excessive and unjustified use of pre-trial detention. Studies by the European Commission suggest that the vast majority of people in pre-trial detention in the EU do not need to be there at all and our own cases bear this out.
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On average, it costs around 3,000 Euros to keep a person in prison per month in the EU. In collaboration with international law firm, Clifford Chance, and with input from members of our Legal Experts Advisory Panel, we revealed huge variances in the way different EU countries operate their pre-trial detention systems.
“FTI’s proposals in relation to pre-trial detention are good and will work to reduce discrimination against non-nationals.” Judith Sargentini MEP
Andrew was arrested in December 2010 in Spain following a fire in the hotel where he was staying with his mother. Owing to health complications as a baby, Andrew, aged 51, has the mental age of a young child and is heavily dependent on his mother who is now in her late 70s. Andrew has been detained in a Spanish jail since December 2010. Twentyone months later, there was still no trial date in sight. Given his vulnerabilities, Andrew struggles to understand his situation and finds it hard to cope with being separated from his mother. She is extremely worried about his health after a suicide attempt in March 2012 and due to Andrew’s refusal to eat most foods. Fair Trials International continues to campaign on Andrew’s behalf. We have highlighted his ordeal in the press and are calling for him to be given a prompt trial and to be released on bail in the meantime.
We are calling for:
Fig. 2: Prison Overcrowding: the EU’s worst offenders 2010/2011
• New EU laws setting minimum standards for the use of pretrial detention; • Effective use of alternatives to pre-trial detention; and • Deferred extradition under European Arrest Warrants, until the case is ready for trial. Following the launch of our report, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for urgent legislative measures to end unjustified pre-trial detention. Since then, there has been overwhelming support for FTI’s recommendations for reform and a number of EU countries have also recognised the problem and the need for EU action to tackle it. In the year ahead, we will be looking for opportunities in Europe’s courts to challenge unlawful or excessive detention and to force judges to make proper use of alternatives. We will also encourage lawyers to use the new European Supervision Order which comes into force in December. This will allow people arrested in an EU country other than their own to return home on bail, instead of languishing in a foreign prison with all the financial and personal stress this causes, both for them and their families.
“Despite a longestablished principle that remand prisoners – who have not been convicted or sentenced – have rights and entitlements not available to sentenced prisoners, many have a poorer regime, less support and less preparation for release.” Nick Hardwick, UK’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Report on UK’s Remand Prisoners, August 2012
20% 20% of all our clients reporting pre-trial delays over the last year were being held in Spain, a country where pre-trial detention can last up to four years.
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Consular Assistance
For individuals arrested in an unfamiliar country, far from family and friends, consular assistance can provide a lifeline. It can give people information on their basic rights as criminal defendants, help them to identify effective legal representation, and to maintain contact with loved ones at home. Ministries of Foreign Affairs can also help to ensure their citizens arrested abroad are treated in accordance with internationally accepted human rights standards. Identifying those cases which involve serious fair trial violations is the first step towards taking appropriate action to tackle abuses, whether through interventions in individual cases or through action at a policy level. Research undertaken by Fair Trials International with a number of Ministries of Foreign Affairs has, however, indicated that few consular officials receive sufficient training on fair trial issues.
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We have begun to address this problem by working more closely with Ministries of Foreign Affairs, initially with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to develop a training programme to help consular officers identify serious breaches of the right to a fair trial. The training programme will be finalised during the course of this year and will be provided to officers posted across the world.
“We work closely with Fair Trials International... to ensure that those detained overseas get the expert assistance they need.” Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights and Democracy Report 2011–2012 We also continue to push Ministries of Foreign Affairs to provide effective consular assistance in individual cases, particularly those involving allegations of torture, inhumane treatment and other serious violations of fair trial rights.
Laura Webb Interview
someone from social services would be taking the kids that I realised I was going to be arrested too. I had assumed I would be leaving because my ex-husband had done it.
Laura was arrested on holiday in Venezuela after drugs were found in her ex-husband’s suitcase. She spent two years on remand, subject to horrendous conditions, and was attacked while in prison. She was released in March 2012. Can you describe the emotion of seeing your children taken away from you at the airport when you were arrested? It was utterly heartbreaking. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and the police told me that there was no way the kids would be taken from me. It was only when the British Consul turned up and said that
You had some pretty serious health issues while in Venezuela – have you been able to understand what was wrong with you? Not being able to speak Spanish or have access to a translator made it a real struggle. I was first told I was having a biopsy, but after I woke up and realised that the doctors had operated on me I couldn’t even ask what had happened. I had no translator. I had to ask a prison guard to get another prisoner who spoke English to translate for me. I was told so many different stories that I just didn’t know what to believe – it was terrifying not being able to understand the language in that situation. Can you describe your prison conditions? There were 75 women in the prison – 18 of them foreigners like me. We were squashed into one room on the floor – and most of us didn’t have a mattress. The shower was a hosepipe in the corner of the room with a dustbin. It was horrendous. The electricity and water would cut out, you just had to get by, you had no choice.
You experienced two years in prison waiting for trial – what kept you going throughout your ordeal? The only thing that ever kept me going was thinking about my kids. The thought of being with them and coming home – without that there’s no way I could ever have gotten through it. Every day was a battle, it was really hard. You were eventually convicted as an accessory to attempted drug smuggling. Why didn’t you appeal? Everyone told me I should plead guilty in order to get a reduced sentence. I was very scared, but I was innocent, and there was no evidence against me, so I did fight. After I was convicted I was told that an appeal would have taken another two years. It was a case of getting home as soon as I can, to be back with my children. What are your plans now that you’re back? I really don’t know to be honest! It’s still taking a lot of time to settle in. I’m taking some time to reconnect with my kids, so I have to really concentrate on that. My battle is not over yet.
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Finance
Fair Trials International is rigorous in keeping its costs down so that as much as possible is spent on charitable work. In 2011/12 we spent £494,000. The charity’s steady growth (a 22% increase on 2010/11) has been necessary in order to improve the assistance we are able to provide to our clients, and to make the most of opportunities to improve the protection of fair trial rights in Europe and beyond. This money was spent on: Casework (£150,000): Casework remains at the heart of all of our work, representing a significant portion of our expenditure. Our key focus for the year has been the implementation of an entirely new system for our direct assistance, the express aim of which is to provide help to many more people arrested abroad.
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Policy and Campaigns (£190,000): We have continued to invest significant staff time and resources in our law reform work, using the individual stories from our casework to build popular support for the protection of fair trial rights both within the European Union and beyond. Networks and Training (£110,000): The annual conference of our Legal Experts Advisory Panel was held in September 2011, bringing together 52 members from 17 jurisdictions. Our fourth European Young Defenders Network (in which 50 young lawyers participated) was held in Strasbourg in April 2012. We spent £44,000 on governance and generating funds, 9% of our expenditure.
Expenditure Graph
2011/12
Policy & Campaigns £190,000
Casework £150,000
Networks & Training £110,000
Other £44,000
Funding
Case Study Andrew Symeou
In 2012/13, we need to raise £500,000 to support our charitable work. This will allow us to build on the success of our work over the past year – both in terms of the support we provide to vulnerable individuals and our work for the better protection of fair trial rights.
Last June, Andrew Symeou was acquitted of manslaughter by a court in Greece after a long extradition battle and months in pre-trial detention. Following his acquittal, Andrew has begun to rebuild his life, and has just completed his first year at Middlesex University, where he is studying Psychology and Marketing. Fair Trials International supported the Symeou family throughout their ordeal, and challenged Andrew’s extradition, as well as the unjustified decision to remand him in custody. We are hugely grateful to Andrew’s sister Sophie who, along with her friend Gabby, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in October to raise money for the charity.
We do not charge for any of the services we provide and therefore rely on the generosity of our funders in the following ways: Trusts and Foundations We raise a significant proportion of our income from grantmaking bodies in the UK and beyond. We are delighted, for example, that our work to raise standards of justice in Europe is now supported by the Oak Foundation and the Global Criminal Justice Fund of the Open Society Foundations. Major Gifts A small number of individuals continue to make significant gifts to support our work. This has been essential for the ongoing assistance we provide to hundreds of vulnerable people each year. We remain very grateful to our major donors.
Law Firms and Chambers Fair Trials is fortunate to have developed strong relationships within the UK legal community and to have received donations from a number of law firms and barristers’ chambers. We are looking at ways to work more closely with these lawyers and to draw further on their support and expertise. European Commission We will continue to apply for project funding from the European Commission to support our networking and law reform activities. In particular, we have received co-financing for a new joint project with the Dutch charity EuroMoS to survey defence lawyers and to build an interactive map to demonstrate the state of fair trial rights within the EU. Individual Fundraising Activities We continue to receive money from individual donors. We are delighted in particular that more of our supporters are organising fundraising events to support our work and hope that this will continue in the year ahead.
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 21
Accounts
Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 March 2012 Unrestricted Funds (£)
Restricted Funds (£)
Total 2011/12 (£)
Total 2010/11 (£)
Voluntary Income: Donations Grants Investment Income Other Income
119,514 101,275 211 6
274,115 -
119,514 375,390 211 6
149,820 255,324 170 13
Total Incoming Resources
221,006
274,115
495,121
405,327
Charitable Activities Cost of Generating Funds Governance Costs
181,925 32,563 6,073
269,678 1,124 3,313
451,603 33,687 9,386
358,008 36,156 10,053
Total Resources Expended
220,561
274,115
494,676
404,217
445
-
445
1,110
Funds at 1 April 2010
152,022
-
152,022
150,912
Funds at 31 March 2011
152,467
-
152,467
152,022
INCOMING RESOURCES
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Net Movement in Funds
Trustees’ Statement This financial statement is a summary of information extracted from the full annual accounts approved by the Trustees on 13th June 2012. This summary may not contain sufficient information to allow for a full understanding of the financial affairs of the charity. For further information, the full annual accounts, Independent 22 www.FairTrials.net
Examiner’s Report on them and the Trustees’ Annual Report should be consulted; copies of these may be obtained from The Treasurer, Fair Trials International, 3/7 Temple Chambers, Temple Avenue, London EC4Y 0HP, United Kingdom. Signed on behalf of the Trustees Peter Lipscomb OBE Chair
Balance Sheet At 31 March 2012 2011/12 (£) Fixed Assets Tangible Fixed Assets Current Assets Debtors Cash at Bank and In Hand
Creditors: Amounts due within one year
2011/12 (£)
2010/11 (£)
14,108
2010/11 (£)
8,332
88,077 407,280
48,047 298,041
495,357
346,088
(353,718)
(191,866)
Net Current Assets
141,639
154,222
Total Assets less current liabilities
155,747
162,554
(3,280)
(10,532)
Net Assets
152,467
152,022
Funds Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds
152,467
152,022
Total Funds
152,467
152,022
Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year
Independent Examiners’ Report to the Trustees of Fair Trials International We confirm that the summarised statement of financial activities and the summarised balance sheet are a fair extract from the full annual accounts of the charity for the year ended
31 March 2012 on which we reported separately as Independent Examiners on 13th June 2012. Hazlems Fenton LLP Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 23
Muhammad Geloo
Muhammad Geloo was arrested in Saudi Arabia, where he was studying Arabic, in November 2006. He has reported that he was tortured until he confessed to giving £300 to a fellow student supporting the insurgency in Iraq. Muhammad never saw a court judgment but believes he was convicted of a criminal offence after a grossly unfair trial lasting minutes. After a long campaign by Fair Trials International and Muhammad’s family, he was finally released in January 2012. How did you adjust back to life in the UK after five years away, and do you have advice to people trying to do the same? There was a lot of support from my family and my community, which has helped with getting things back to normal. My advice to others is that whatever has happened has happened, and you shouldn’t let the past disrupt what your plans for the
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“I was blindfolded, shackled, and handcuffed from when they removed me from my cell until I arrived at the court room.” future are. It’s when you let the past overcome you, that’s when you get other problems like depression, so you should get on with your life and use your experience to benefit people. Can you describe the first thing you did when you got back home? I was welcomed by relatives, and my phone was so busy we had to just switch it off in the end! I hadn’t slept for a couple of days and it was just getting too much, so my family informed people that I was resting. Getting phone calls from all over the world; from friends and relatives; it was just moments that I won’t ever forget. What kept you going throughout your detention? The only thing that makes things worse while you’re in prison is worrying. Whatever is going to happen will happen anyway, and so the more you worry, the more the guards will have achieved their goals. It was
a great help to know that I had so much support back at home from my family and from Fair Trials and I also used to think of the people that are worse off than me. That’s what keeps you going and keeps you mentally stable until your release.
“It was a great help to know that I had so much support back at home from my family and from Fair Trials.” Muhammad Geloo
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2011 25
Networks
The network of lawyers that we have developed is one of Fair Trials International’s greatest assets. It enables us to refer people in need of effective legal representation to good lawyers all over the world and ensures that our campaigns are informed by expert perspectives from across Europe. The Legal Experts Advisory Panel (LEAP) brings together experts in criminal justice and fundamental rights from across the European Union. The Panel meets regularly to discuss topical human rights issues of mutual interest. LEAP now has over 80 active members in 24 EU jurisdictions. We produce a quarterly report to keep members up to date with important EU criminal justice issues, and to inform them about upcoming events. In September 2011, 52 members from 17 EU jurisdictions met to discuss pre-trial detention in today’s EU (page 16–17) and the draft EU law to guarantee suspects’ right to legal advice (page 11). Communiqués summarising discussions on the two topics were widely distributed after
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the event and greatly assisted in our targeted lobbying work in the months that followed. The LEAP conference also saw the launch of a project to map best and worst practice in EU fair trial rights protection, alongside the Dutch research organization, EuroMoS. The project involves a survey of lawyers in every EU country, on the practical state of defence rights protection and on the barriers to a fair trial. The study will be presented at the next LEAP conference, taking place at the Brussels Parliament in October 2012. LEAP members met with us in Strasbourg in April, to share case studies and brainstorm ideas for reform of Interpol’s systems to ensure that the potential for abuse is reduced and individuals who suffer injustice have better opportunities to seek redress (page 14). European Young Defenders Network In April, we held the fourth in a series of residential training courses for emerging human rights practitioners. This training equips young lawyers from across Europe with new tools to defend basic rights and provides excellent networking and mentoring opportunities.
More than 45 young criminal defenders from 20 jurisdictions participated in the free four-day Young Defenders programme, this year held in Strasbourg. Participants shared their professional and cultural knowledge, while learning about EU cross-border criminal justice issues. Practical training was provided on how to bring a case before the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Our thanks to our guest speakers and LEAP members who helped make this event such a success: James Brannan, Vania Costa Ramos, Mike Evans, Liese Katschinka, Nuala Mole, Mikolaj Pietrzak, Jozef Rammelt, Federico Romoli, Dominique Tricaud, Oliver Wallasch and Anne Weber.
Who We Are
Trustees
Patrons
Staff
Peter Lipscomb OBE Chair
Stephen Jakobi OBE Founder Patron
Jago Russell Chief Executive
Conrad Levy Hon Treasurer
Sir Henry Brooke CMG
Catherine Heard Head of Policy
Deborah Annetts
Rt Hon Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC
Peter Carter QC
Lord Goodhart QC
Sally Dickinson
Paolo Iorio
Anand Doobay
Lord Jay of Ewelme GCMG
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts
Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP
Jane Howard
Rt Hon Lord Mackay of Clashfern QC
Tara Lyle Nigel Siederer Professor Jon Silverman Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG
Clive Nicholls QC Jozef Rammelt Judith Sargentini MEP Birgit Sippel MEP Dominique Tricaud Oliver Wallasch Hans Warendorf
Robert Jackman Development Manager Mike Kostyn Finance Manager Bruno Min Direct Assistance Manager Rosalyn Salmon Office Manager Rebecca Shaeffer Strategic Caseworker (Maternity Leave) Emily Smith Policy Officer Alex Tinsley Strategic Caseworker (Maternity Cover) Allan Williams Media Officer We would like to thank those staff members who have left in the last year: Priscillia de Corson Shona Elliott Daniel Mansell
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 27
Our Supporters
Fair Trials International’s work this year was only possible due to the support of a growing number of supporters, volunteers and pro-bono lawyers.
Additional thanks to the following:
We would particularly like to thank the interns that assisted us throughout the year.
Saskia Bennett Emma Brown Richard Elsen, Byfield Jay Galsworthy, Designbuzz Mike Jacobson, Ayima Richard Lovell, Designbuzz Graham Mitchell Lisa Muller, Freshfields Nick Redding, Ayima Melanie Riley, Bell Yard Marieke Widmann Fair Trials International would also like to thank everyone who has donated to our work this year, including:
Nayyar Ali Leanne Bailey Sarah Barker Kat Barry Giovanni Bressan Hannah Chalmers Mellissa Curzon-Berners Jenna Darler Jack Dahlsen Megan Davis Tarik El-Hadidi Lauren Gomer Craig Hogg Joseph Kitchen Neale McDonald Anna Nicholls Mark Odaga Oliver Oldman Sonya Rahaman Ratha Senthinathan Zoe Sutherland Pauline Thivillier Rik Vanhauteghem Peter Yates
A B Charitable Trust, Allen & Overy, Bower Trust, Bromley Trust, Clifford Chance, Constance Fairness Foundation, Drapers’ Company, Edwards Wildman Palmer, Evan Cornish Foundation, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Garden Court Chambers, George and Esme Pollitzer Settlement, Global Criminal Justice Fund of the Open Society Foundations, Hasluck Charitable Trust, Henhurst Charitable Trust, Herbert Smith, Korman Trust, Launan Charitable Trust, Law Society Charity, London Legal Support Trust, Marple Charitable Trust, Matrix, Mosselson Charitable Trust, N Smith Charitable Settlement, Oak Foundation, Oakdale Trust, Persula Foundation,
The work of Fair Trials International is greatly improved by the valuable contribution made by volunteers, including those who give freely of their time to work as interns or assist at our evening clinics.
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Poling Charitable Trust, Roger Vere Foundation, Simmons & Simmons, Sir James Roll Charitable Trust, Sir John Sumner’s Trust, Street Foundation, Tanner Trust, William Grant & Sons. The following individuals have made significant contributions to our fundraising:
Mr and Mrs H-P Holinger Mr and Mrs M Hughes Mr and Mrs P Lipscomb Mr and Mrs H Warendorf We would also like to thank the dozens of lawyers across the globe and the UK legal community who generously support our work. Our thanks to those who have contributed to the notes of advice: Ali Norouzi, Anthony Brown, Christophe Marchand, Cliff Gatzweiler, Emmanuel Marsigny, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners, Federico Romoli, Fulvia Guardascione, Gonzalo Boye, Henri Carpentier, Maciej Kusmierczyk, Peters & Peters, RJ McCafferty, Sabine Zanker, Vania Costa Ramos, Wafa Shah.
Support Us
To find out more about how to get involved, including how to make a donation, volunteer or organise a fundraising event in your local community please visit www.fairtrials.net Want to Know More? Keep informed about our work by signing up to our monthly e-newsletter at www.fairtrials.net Follow us
Find us at twitter.com/fairtrials and facebook.com/fairtrials
Visit our You Tube channel and watch our films www.youtube.com/user/FairTrialsInt
With financial support from the European Commission Directorate-General Justice: Criminal Justice directorate and Fundamental Rights and Citizenship directorate.
Fair Trials International Annual Review 2012 29
Fair Trials International 3/7 Temple Chambers Temple Avenue London EC4Y 0HP United Kingdom www.fairtrials.net