I regret to inform you that INTERIGHTS closed down on 27 May 2014. Our past successes have included cases challenging slavery in Niger - making a difference to thousands of people; ensuring that the African Commission set standards for countries across the continent to ensure that all detentions were lawful, not arbitrary and never involved torture; protecting minorities like the Transdniestra community in Moldova or; cases for people with disabilities or for those harassed or discriminated because of their sexual orientation or gender.
However, INTERIGHTS has found it increasingly difficult to retain funding for its work over the past two or three years and it has recently become clear that it will be impossible to sustain the organisation over the long term. Despite downsizing the organisation significantly, making many of our long-term staff redundant and negotiating significant reductions in other costs, we now have no choice but to cease operating. In the next two months we will be focusing our efforts on our current cases in order to identify other lawyers and NGOs to take forward this important work after our closure.
While the staff and Board are very disappointed to be closing, we are comforted by the successes that INTERIGHTS has been able to achieve in the thirty two years since it was established. We all hope that others can build on those achievements and continue to use the tools that INTERIGHTS developed to promote human rights across the world.
We are all in debt to those who founded the organisation thirty two years ago and all the hundreds of staff, volunteers, Board members, partners, supporters and funders who made it all possible and contributed to making the world a better place.
INTERIGHTS’ pending cases have been transferred to our partners. Please write to IR2@interights.org if you have specific queries with respect to a case that INTERIGHTS has been assisting with.