Alexis is a freelance IT and security consultant.
With a wide knowledge of several IT fields and a pragmatic approach to the digital tools, he helps organizations making sure they work in a modern, efficient, and secure environment.
He has over two decades of experience working with international organizations, educational institutions, and companies around Europe.
Vy is a lawyer specializing in international human rights law, international criminal law, and domestic litigation. Vy holds an LLB. from International Islamic University Malaysia and an Advanced LLM. in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden University.
Admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Courts of Malaya in August 2020 by the Malaysian Bar Council, Vy has a robust background as a litigation lawyer working on public interest and criminal litigation on cases of sexual offenses, drug offenses, and homicides.
Vy’s commitment to human rights is reflected in their work with grassroots activists and local queer NGOs, where Vy provided pro-bono legal counsel and representation for LGBTIQ+ individuals in Malaysia. Vy also served as the Executive Board Member (Community & Outreach) for the United Nations Association of Malaysia Youth as well as an Urgent Arrest Lawyer for the Malaysian Bar Council providing pro-bono legal services for cases affecting the rights and liberty of participants of public demonstrations and protests.
Fluent in English, Bahasa Malaysia, and Bahasa Indonesia, Vy continues to advocate for meaningful access to justice for marginalized communities.
Niccolò is a graduate student of the University of Padova where he obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Multi-Level Governance.
Prior to joining UpRights as a research and communication intern, Niccolò has oriented his professional commitments to the areas of journalism and advocacy in the field of human rights by working alongside the team of Koliba, a journalist organisation for the dissemination of information in the matter of international relations, and that of Generation for Rights Over the World (GROW), a student-led think tank whose vocation is to defend human rights through a wide-ranging advocacy effort. He previously interned at Kito ODV an Italian no-profit organisation whose work revolves around emergency-response and humanitarian action specifically in the areas of health and education.
He is a firm believer in the power of advocacy in the promotion and development of human rights and in the need, for human rights mechanisms, to employ novel, inclusive, and stakeholder-oriented solutions to reach their full potential. He is fluent in English, French and Italian.
Ciara Laverty is a legal practitioner and researcher specialised in international criminal law, human rights and transitional justice.
She has published research and worked on advocacy issues in particular in the areas of sexual and reproductive rights and accountability for sexual and gender-based violence. Ciara has previously worked as a researcher and lecturer in international law at Leiden University, as a visiting researcher at the University of California Berkeley, and on protection issues at the International Committee of the Red Cross. She holds a PhD and an Advanced LLM in international law from Leiden University and an MSc in international relations from the University of Edinburgh.
Marin Van Hove is a lawyer with experience in international criminal law, international humanitarian law and human rights law as well as domestic litigation.
Prior to joining UpRights, Marin worked as assistant legal officer / assistant trial counsel with the Immediate Office of the Prosecutor, Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He worked on conspiracy, terrorism and intentional homicide cases. He also practiced law with a firm in New Zealand, in litigation and dispute resolution. He has undertaken legal projects with the New Zealand Red Cross and Netherlands Red Cross.
Marin is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and he has a master of laws in public international law from Leiden University. He is admitted as a barrister and solicitor at the New Zealand bar. He is fluent in English and French.
David Kinnecome has more than 15 years of experience as an international lawyer providing legal advice to international judges and prosecutors on all aspects of cases involving international crimes and terrorism, from drafting and assessing indictments to appeals from judgement.
From 2006 until the end of 2021, David worked as a lawyer for international and hybrid criminal tribunals. His work includes: providing legal advice and assistance to the trial judges of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, providing legal advice and acting as appeals counsel in the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and acting as appeals counsel in the Office of the Prosecutor before the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. Prior to his work with international courts, David worked for three years as a litigation associate for law firms in Boston and New York.
David is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and has a Master in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is a member of the state Bars of Massachusetts and New York.
Asa Solway is an international lawyer with significant experience advising international organizations, national governments and civil society on a range of international legal issues.
Asa is currently a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law and has served for over 15 years as an international lawyer advising on multilateral conflict prevention, international law, human rights and access to justice. He has worked with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and with the United Nations in the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Registry of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. His publications and legal submissions have considered parallel legal systems, foreign state reprisals, the law of armed conflict, national minorities and modern forms of colonialism
Asa is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley School of Law and a member of the State Bar of California.
Valérie Gabard has over a decade of experience as a legal adviser for the United Nations in the areas of international criminal law, international humanitarian law, human rights law and transitional justice.
Prior to forming UpRights, Valérie worked for the United Nations International commission of Inquiry for Mali and for the Team of International Experts on the Situation in Kasai (DRC) where she investigated international crimes and gross human rights violations and provided recommendations to improve accountability for crimes committed during the Kasai and the Malian conflicts. Valérie has also worked as a legal officer for Judges of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda as well as investigating Judges at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Valerie has developed on line trainings including for human rights field staff focused on international criminal justice.
Valérie has a double specialization in criminal law and international public law from the Universities of Bordeaux, Maastricht and Aix-en-Provence. She is fluent in English and French.
