Withers hosts an evening with Amal Clooney discussing our longstanding work with the Clooney Foundation for Justice

Withers hosted a very special event featuring human rights lawyer and advocate Amal Clooney, our Global Chairperson Justine Markovitz and US Head of Pro Bono Emma Lindsay in New York City on October 26. The conversation focused on the importance of creating a world where human rights are protected and no one is above the law. It was attended by clients and friends of the firm with an interest in social justice. 

Left to right: Amal Clooney, Co-Founder, Clooney Foundation for Justice, and Emma Lindsay, Partner, Withersworldwide

In a fireside chat, Justine facilitated a fascinating discussion with Amal and Emma on their work together, the rule of law and its role in an increasingly fractious world. Amal talked about what motivates her advocacy to ensure the successful initiation and development of legal action to drive systemic change, the challenges and opportunities she sees in her work, and how she stays hopeful in fighting against atrocity, autocracy and authoritarianism. 

Amal is co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice.  The organization seeks justice for survivors of human rights abuses and we share the story of their work in their video.

Find out more about the Clooney Foundation for Justice

The foundation's mission

Amal and George Clooney founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice because they believe in creating a world where human rights are protected and no one is above the law. They believe that justice, like war, must be waged; it doesn’t just happen on its own. So CFJ gathers evidence of mass human rights abuses, provides free legal support to victims and works to ensure that perpetrators are held to account. CFJ fights for justice for the long haul, no matter how difficult the journey. CFJ provides free legal support to victims of abuses of power. Each of its programs aims to fight systemic injustice against vulnerable communities: journalists, women and girls, democracy-defenders, LGBTQ persons and minorities.

When journalists are locked up just for doing their job, CFJ tries to get them out of prison. Their TrialWatch program monitors criminal trials in over 40 countries by placing individuals who are trained using their TrialWatch app in courtrooms across the globe. The world’s leading legal experts use the data gathered by these monitors to grade the trials and bring to light those that are a sham. They then work with local lawyers to free those who are unjustly imprisoned. And they are building Global Justice Rankings to expose countries’ performance and advocate for systemic change.

When minorities are targeted for genocide, CFJ helps to trigger trials against the perpetrators.  Their Docket program gathers evidence of war crimes and genocide, from Ukraine to the Congo, Darfur, Iraq and Venezuela, shares it with prosecutors and represents survivors in trials once perpetrators are in the dock.

When young girls are denied the right to study, work or marry when they want, CFJ helps them fight for their rights through the courts. Their Waging Justice for Women initiative works hand-in-hand with young women in Africa to pursue their rights through the courts and run ‘women for women’ legal aid clinics that provide free legal support to women and girls who are victims of discrimination.

Our pro bono work

We are honored and proud to work with the Clooney Foundation for Justice.  Recent efforts include:

Ukraine appoints Withers as pro bono adviser for war crimes task force: We are working with the Government of Ukraine as part of the legal Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine to advise on legal responses to Russia’s invasion and support Ukraine in delivering justice for victims of international crimes committed by Russia. Formed in March, the task force, led by Amal Clooney, is providing advice to Ukraine on a pro bono basis. The remit of the task force encompasses advice on proposals for accountability including through the United Nations and regional organizations, advice and potential representation relating to civil and criminal cases to secure criminal accountability and reparations in national jurisdictions, and strategic guidance on Ukraine’s cooperation with the International Criminal Court.

In addition to Amal Clooney, the task force is comprised of some of the world’s leading international human rights lawyers: Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Richard Hermer QC, Tim Otty QC, Philippa Webb, and Lord Neuberger, the former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The task force also includes legal experts from US firm Covington & Burling, led by Nikhil Gore, the French firm Sygna Partners, led by Luke Vidal, as well as Withers, led by Emma Lindsay.

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Withers assists the Clooney Foundation for Justice in helping seek justice at the International Criminal Court for victims of crimes against humanity in Venezuela: We are working with CFJ to gather evidence of serious human rights abuses in Venezuela for submission to the International Criminal Court to support the ICC Prosecutor’s investigation of the situation in Venezuela. In September 2018, six States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC requested the ICC Prosecutor to initiate an investigation on crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the territory of Venezuela since February 2014, in the first referral submitted by a group of States Parties concerning a situation on the territory of another State Party. This is the first ever ICC investigation in a Latin American country. 

International and non-governmental organizations have documented a pattern of generalized and systematic attacks by the Venezuelan security forces against civilians including arbitrary detentions, murders, extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual abuse and rape. The ICC Prosecutor announced his decision to open an investigation to establish the truth in accordance with the Rome Statute during his first official visit to Venezuela in November 2021. The ICC Prosecutor’s second official visit to Venezuela took place in March 2022. With CFJ’s The Docket program and Venezuelan human rights organization Foro Penal, we are working to document evidence of abuses and collect the testimony of victims and survivors to ensure that perpetrators are held to account.

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Our New York Partner Emma Lindsay serves on the board of the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Emma, who leads the firm’s international arbitration and public international law team in the US, has served as a member of the CFJ board since CFJ was founded in 2016.