Staff

Helen Duffy
Legal Director
Qualified as a solicitor in Scotland and later England. LLM, International law, University of London, 1990. Working life before joining INTERIGHTS in April 2001 included acting as Legal Advisor to the Scott �Arms for Iraq� Inquiry in London, Legal Director of the Centre for Human Rights in Legal Action in Guatemala, Counsel on International Justice to Human Rights Watch, New York, and Legal Officer, Legal Advisory Section, the Prosecutor�s Office, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague. Particular interest in international criminal law, laws of war and international remedies. Languages: English, Spanish and very limited French. 

Iain Byrne
Commonwealth Law Officer
Fellow of the Human Rights Centre, Essex University. Graduated in law from Manchester University (1988) followed by an MA in human rights theory and practice at Essex (1994). Worked extensively abroad as consultant and lecturer on human rights and good governance for the British Council and the UN including Zimbabwe, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Georgia and Brazil. Participated in the first international mission to Israel and the Occupied Territories during the 2000 intifada. Previously Research Officer and then Associate with the Democratic Audit, Essex University. Joined INTERIGHTS in September 2001. Author of numerous publications on human rights and good governance including The Human Rights of Street Children: A Practical Manual for Advocates and, with Keir Starmer, Blackstone�s Human Rights Digest. Interests include economic, social and cultural rights, auditing human rights and democracy and children�s rights. Languages: competent French and basic German.

Andrea Coomber 
Legal Officer for Equality Programme
Holds Bachelors degrees in Arts (History) and Law from the University of Western Australia and a Masters Degree in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is admitted to practise as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. After practising sex and HIV discrimination law in Australia, she worked for the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) in New Delhi and for the International Service for Human Rights, Geneva. She has also lived and worked in Egypt. Particular interests are the human rights of people with disabilities, the operation of UN human rights mechanisms and the state of human rights in Singapore. Languages: conversational German and Bahasa Indonesian. Also increasingly conversant in British Sign Language.

Ibrahima Kane
Legal Officer for Africa
Qualified as a lawyer in Senegal and France. Ran a human rights programme focused on public education and women�s human rights in five West-African countries (Cap Verde, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal) for six years. Founding member of RADDHO, a Senegalese human rights organisation. Joined INTERIGHTS in 1998. Particular interest in Francophone countries, economic, social and cultural rights, torture and women�s rights. Languages: fluent French, competent in English, Mandika and some Arabic.

Kevin Kitching

Judith A Oder
Legal Officer for Africa
Graduated in Law from Makerere University Kampala and holds a post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Uganda. Pursued a Masters in International Human Rights Law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Sweden after which she interned at Amnesty International�s Legal and International Organisations� Programme. Before joining INTERIGHTS in 2004, worked at the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, the Gambia to protect and promote human rights by using African regional treaties and international law. Particular interests: the rights of vulnerable groups and the impact of business activities on human rights. Languages: Luo, Luganda. Fair Knowledge of French and Kiswahili. 

Vesselina Vandova
Legal Officer for Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union
Degree in Law from Sofia University, Bulgaria (1995), and LLM in Public Service Law, New York University (2002). In 1996-97, she was COLPI's Fellow in the Human Rights Advocacy Training Programme at American University Washington College of Law. Before joining INTERIGHTS in 2002, worked as: staff attorney for the Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights, litigating cases of human rights before both domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights; project co-ordinator of a joint project of five Bulgarian NGOs aimed at promoting police accountability; and criminal defence attorney in Sofia, Bulgaria. Particular interests include criminal justice, promoting human rights through litigation and courts. Languages: Bulgarian, Russian and limited French and Spanish.

Beth Fernandez
Programme Assistant for Central and Eastern Europe / Equality
Degree in Russian and Politics from Leeds University. Previously worked as a lecturer of British politics at St Petersburg State University, a researcher on financial, scientific and legal terminology at University of Surrey, a venture capital researcher at a St Petersburg investment bank, and a project manager for a London-based software company. Joined INTERIGHTS in August 2001. Particular interests: challenges to the rule of law in the countries of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia, equality and non-discrimination, systems of monitoring and evaluation for human rights projects, training methodologies for human rights. Languages: fluent Russian, conversational French.

Erica Ffrench
Information/Programme Assistant for Commonwealth / Executive Director
Degree in English Literature from the University of Sussex. TEFL qualified, spent six months in Hungary teaching English to secondary school students. Worked at RotoVision, an international book publisher for the academic and professional design market for four years. Spent last two years as editor before joining INTERIGHTS in June 2003. Currently studying for a post-graduate diploma in law. Languages: French and basic Japanese.

Juliet McDermott
Programme Assistant for Africa / Executive Director
Degree in History from Trinity College Dublin and MA in International Studies & Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.  Following MA, worked as a research assistant at the Kurdish Human Rights Project in London, specialising in torture in Kurdish regions. Most recently based at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg working in publications, concerning human rights issues in Europe.  Particular interest in sub-Saharan African countries, having lived in Zambia, Lesotho and Swaziland for several years. Languages: French and competent Italian. Joined INTERIGHTS in March 2004.

Moni Shrestha
Programme Assistant for South Asia / Legal Director
Degree in African Studies from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, which included research in Nigeria. Before joining INTERIGHTS in July 2001, worked as research assistant at an international market research company specialising in IT, while volunteering with the Urgent Action Team of Amnesty International (UK). Lived in Nepal for 11 months. Languages: native German, French, basic Nepali.

John Musgrave
Finance and Administration Director
Qualified Chartered Secretary with varied business management experience: finance, personnel, facilities management, relocation, administrative systems development, insurance. Has worked in public, private and NGO sectors. Joined INTERIGHTS in 1992. Will be leaving in early 2005.

Joe Curran
Interim Finance Director
Joined INTERIGHTS in December 2004.

Connie Rafferty
Finance Manager
AAT qualified and currently studying CIMA. Has worked in the voluntary sector for over ten years in organisations such as Centrepoint Housing Association, Mencap and The Refugee Council. During that time has gained a variety of experience in finance, staff management and training, systems development and implementation and insurance. Has a particular interest in history, human rights, animal rights and welfare. Joined INTERIGHTS in June 2001.

Bernise Fullerton
Interim Administration Manager
Joined INTERIGHTS in January 2005.

Cathal Sheerin
Administrator for Finance and Administration
Degree in English from University College London followed by an MA at King�s College London. TEFL qualified. Taught English as a foreign language to students of various nationalities and eventually started his own business offering English language services to the London Japanese community. Trained as a chartered accountant at BDO Stoy Hayward, a city accountancy firm, before joining INTERIGHTS in February 2001. Designed the INTERIGHTS website.