Reprieve

Who we are

Reprieve works with people whose circumstances have made them extremely vulnerable. Our aim is simple: to consign the death penalty and abuses carried out in the name of “counter-terrorism” or “national security” to history, drawing public and political attention to these past harms with a view to preventing them from occurring again.

In our view, you can best judge a society by how it treats prisoners, criminal defendants, and the far-flung targets of an ever-changing counter-terror policy. To us, the rule of law means little if we selectively apply it to people we agree with. It is for all of us. Liberty is always eroded at the margins.

Reprieve’s staff is made up of courageous and committed human rights defenders. Founded in 1999, we provide free legal and investigative support to people facing the death penalty and those victimised by states’ abusive counter-terror policies – rendition, torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killing.

We fight our clients’ cases in courts around the world; investigate their mistreatment; and advocate on their behalf, encouraging public and political debate of human rights issues.

Reprieve’s main office is in Aldgate, London, UK. Reprieve also supports full-time Fellows, who work as lawyers, investigators and campaigners in the countries in which we work. We work closely with a number of partner organisations in jurisdictions all over the world, who provide access to clients, expertise, knowledge and guidance on specific issues or regions. We work in cooperation with relevant government officials, individual lawyers and human rights defenders, as well as individual, corporate and foundation funders to further the cause of our shared goals.

Reprieve works in close partnership with its independent sibling organisation Reprieve US. This collaboration is mutually beneficial to both Reprieve and Reprieve US as it enables each organisation to work more effectively and take advantage of the strategic locations to increase the impact of our work.

Reprieve is an equal opportunity employer, and we particularly welcome applicants from Black and minority ethnic communities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and those with disabilities. Reprieve is committed to fighting racism and advancing racial justice, both in our work and within Reprieve. For more information, please see our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement below.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Our commitment to racial justice

Protecting the right to fair and equal treatment is one of Reprieve’s core purposes. Racism plays a role in all of the abuses Reprieve exists to fight.

But racism is not only something we encounter in the context of extreme abuses. It is also an everyday phenomenon that is deeply ingrained in our society and institutions. Charities like Reprieve are not immune from structural racism, and it is our responsibility to ensure we do not perpetuate racist structures and practices in the way we operate as an organisation.

We are therefore committed to fighting against racism and advancing racial justice, both in our work and within Reprieve.

Racial justice in our work

Reprieve’s vision is a world without the death penalty or extreme human rights abuses carried out in the name of “counterterrorism” or “national security”. Standing against extrajudicial killing, systemic racism and torture is central to Reprieve’s work. We are conscious that systemic racism, inequality and exclusion are deeply embedded within these abuses – from the discriminatory application of the death penalty to the disproportionate impact of punitive “counter-terrorism” policies around the world. We cannot address these abuses without recognising and responding to the racism that underpins them.

In fighting these abuses, we have a responsibility to do our work in a way which does not compound racist structures. We must acknowledge the racist narratives advanced about many communities facing abuses, and some of the countries where we operate. Our work should help debunk these myths, not indulge them. As an international NGO, we must also recognise that local human rights defenders in the countries where we work know their jurisdictions better than we do, and we should seek to support their efforts and objectives rather than imposing our own perspectives.

In line with our organisational vision and values, we stand in solidarity with those protesting around the world to demand an end to state-sanctioned violence, and those who face persecution for doing so. We must dismantle oppressive and unjust systems plagued with racism wherever we find them.

Racial justice within Reprieve

As an organisation dedicated to dismantling oppressive and unjust systems, we recognize that we must do this work internal to our organisation as well. We acknowledge that within Reprieve we encounter attitudes, practices and power dynamics that are the very same as those we seek to dismantle in our work. We are committed to critically and honestly assessing our own organisational culture, structures, privileges and policies, and we are dedicated to changing systems that we, together, identify as perpetuating injustice.

Doing this effectively is not a short-term commitment and does not have quick solutions; this process requires constant and ongoing questioning, adjustment, monitoring, and feedback—from the language we use to the structures we have in place— to bring about the changes we want to see. It is only through this work that we can strengthen our organisation and most effectively push for the systemic justice that we fight for every day.

Our broader commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

We recognise that injustice and inequality are embedded in our society. The #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have further exposed the long-standing sexual and racial abuses prevalent in our workplaces and culture. And these are just two of the many identities that suffer from exclusion and inequal treatment. We must not overlook that there are others too whose identities result in inequality and exclusion – from those with disabilities to members of the LGBTQ+ community to religious minorities to individuals at the intersection of multiple identities.

We are committed to cultivating a community at Reprieve that is equal, diverse and inclusive. We strive to maintain a culture that actively dismantles discrimination in whatever form it takes, whether seen or unseen, conscious or unconscious. We recognise that each of us carries implicit bias, and it is incumbent on all of us—both individually and as a community—to resist it. Reprieve is committed to training and equipping staff to create this culture, and to reviewing systems in place on an ongoing basis to ensure they reflect values of equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Reprieve stands for the dignity and rights of every individual who comes into contact with us. We are committed to creating an open and accountable culture where issues of injustice can be raised without fear and where we can continue to grow together.