What we do

GRA’s mission is to provide victims access to international human rights mechanisms through high quality legal defense and advocacy strategies.

Nations created several human rights institutions such as courts, tribunals, committees through various instruments (charters and treaties).
Institutions have promotion, monitoring, reporting, and adjudication powers.
Individuals and groups can seek to hold governments accountable for human rights violations when the governments are not complying with the commitments they made through treaties and international instruments.

The United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, and the African Union have human rights bodies
International financial institutions, such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, also provide some avenues for individuals and communities.

We are determined to seek justice and redress by:

We help victims who don't have human rights lawyers, access to international justice

Human Rights litigation is complex and expensive

It takes years to obtain a decision and implement reparations.
Options depends on the specific nation, the victim’s nationality, exhaustion of domestic remedies, and the victim’s goals.
Human rights courts and tribunals are not based in the US’s west coast
Our team often needs to travel, conduct research, gather evidence, interview witness, experts, national authorities, and gain access to case files and transcripts from former representatives.

Victims found reparations due to our work

We have helped victims obtain restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, non-repetition in México, the United States, Argentina.
Some reparations are difficult to implement. We work with victims and government in the process to comply with international orders.

We do fact-finding reports and submissions

Human rights systems monitoring powers opens a space for victims and civil society engagement
We help victims, organizations and social movements to make their voices heard through public hearings and raising international awareness.
We conduct fact-finding investigations, draft reports and submissions, and identify emblematic cases

Human rights problems in our State were addressed thanks to our work

We helped raise awareness on arbitrary detention of immigrants at the Northwest Processing Center and the targeting of human rights defenders in the United States.

We train students and advocates

We work with students from the University of Washington School of Law and Jackson School of International Studies, as well as from Seattle University International Human Rights Clinic
Externships, internships and volunteer opportunities

We provide workshops, clinics and trainings

Available for a fee for institutions that wants to start educating and training human rights advocates.

We promote the use of international law

We research and draft comments on laws, policies and practices with our international human rights lens.
Consulting, research, legislative advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration.