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2021-12-31-accounts

2021 Annual Report & Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

A company limited by guarantee and registered charity Registered Number: 05777831 • Charity Number: 1114900

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Joint Executive Directors’ Introduction
Chair’s Foreword
About Reprieve
Impact report
2021 Highlights
Death Penalty
Abuses in Counterterrorism
Plans for the future
Fundraising
Thanks
Governance, Finance and Risks
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
Independent Auditor’s Report
Financial Statements
Statement of Financial Activities
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow Statement
Notes to the Financial Statements		 01
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The Trustees, who are also the Directors of the Company for the purposes of company law, present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021. The Trustees confirm that the financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, those of the governing documents and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” 2019.

The Trustees would like to thank our donors and supporters who make our work possible. The Trustees would also like to thank Reprieve’s outstanding staff, fellows, consultants and secondees for their continuing hard work and dedication in seeking a world free from the death penalty, assassinations and secret prisons.

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Joint Executive Directors’ Introduction

2021 was another challenging year for the charity world as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to cause great uncertainty across the sector. However, we are incredibly proud of how Reprieve has been able to withstand many of the challenges affecting charities and of the significant successes we were able to achieve in 2021.

Reprieve continued in our fight to advance the global abolition of the death penalty and to seek justice for victims of extreme human rights abuses carried out by powerful states in the name of “counterterrorism”. Fulfilling this vision has been difficult in the midst of a global health crisis when many governments have used the fact that the world’s attention has been elsewhere to push through more executions and clamp down on political protest.

However, our continued commitment to working with organisations on the ground and in-country fellows meant that we were able to withstand many of these challenges and continue our critical work. Working with our skilled lawyers, investigators, campaigners

and communicators, we were able to help overturn the death sentences of our long-term clients, Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon in Saudi Arabia. All three young men were sentenced to death as children for protest-related “crimes”. Everyone at Reprieve was delighted when Ali was released in October, followed by Abdullah in November. We have also been able to make extensive progress in our work to oversee the resentencing of 5,000 men and women on Kenya’s death row. Reprieve’s expert local lawyers and fellows have continued to travel up and down the country collecting the information required to begin resentencing hearings. This is a unique opportunity to seek justice for thousands of people languishing on death row.

We continued to hold powerful governments to account. Our ground-breaking Trafficked to ISIS Report uncovered the stories of British families who were trafficked to Islamic State and are now detained in Syria. Many are women and children who have had their citizenship stripped without notice and are held in appalling conditions, abandoned by the UK Government. In the US, we won a major habeas corpus victory in the case of Asadullah Haroon Gul, one of our clients detained in Guantánamo Bay since 2007. This case found that Asadullah’s detention was unlawful, and is a rare victory in the US courts. Four out of five of

our Guantánamo clients are now cleared for release. One of our clients, Abdul Latif Nasser, was released back to Morocco in 2021.

2021 was also the year we confirmed our joint leadership of Reprieve. This is a model not often used in the charity sector, but we are proud to be two women, from very different backgrounds, leading this brilliant organisation together. We were also delighted to appoint our first female Chair of Reprieve’s Board of Trustees, Dame Elish Angiolini, earlier this year. Elish joins an extraordinary list of Chairs. We would like to pay tribute in particular to our outgoing Chair, Lord Wallace QC of Tankerness, for his support and Anna Yearley leadership of Reprieve. OBE We know that none of our successes would have been Joint Executive possible without the dedication of the whole Reprieve Director

We know that none of our successes would have been possible without the dedication of the whole Reprieve community and the trust and support of our funders. We would like to thank everyone has who has donated money, no matter how large or small the amount, and those who have lent their time, expertise and support to our work. Our achievements are your achievements.

Maya Foa Joint Executive Director

Thank you so much for your support.

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Chair’s Foreword

It was a great honour to join Reprieve as Chair of the Board of Trustees in May 2021. I have followed and supported Reprieve’s work throughout my legal career. It is now such a privilege to work alongside the extraordinary staff team as they continue to transform lives and laws across the world.

My appointment was announced with an interview in Scotland on Sunday and a comment piece in The Scotsman newspaper. I took the opportunity to raise key relevant issues in several Scottish media outlets, particularly the use of Scottish airports in rendition flights to Guantánamo Bay, and the arbitrary detention of British national, Jagtar Singh Johal, in India. In 2021, Reprieve ramped up its campaign on behalf of Jagtar, a Scottish man facing the death penalty in India, being held without charge or trial in an Indian prison. Thousands of Reprieve supporters have called on the UK Government to take action to protect him and countless MPs from across the political spectrum have joined the campaign, including holding a debate in Parliament. Reprieve expertly uses many different ways to bring attention to injustices around the world and hold powerful governments to account.

The expertise and commitment of the brilliant team has made a real difference to individuals and legal reforms around the world.

Whether it is our work in Saudi Arabia shining a spotlight on the grotesque spectacle of sentencing child defendants to death, or in Syria where we are one of the very few NGOs globally who have gained access to detention camps to assess the situation of trafficked people, Reprieve uses all the tools at its disposal to effect change. In working with politicians, conducting litigation, campaigning in the media and using our 100,000 strong supporter list, we make sure the light never goes out on injustice.

I was particularly inspired by Reprieve’s dedication and commitment to the remaining men held in Guantánamo. In 2021, the team secured clearance for release for four of Reprieve’s clients: Saifullah Paracha, Asadullah Haroon Gul, Ahmed Rabbani and Abdul Malik Bajabu. Our work on these cases goes back as far as 2004, spanning four different US administrations. This has not been straightforward. To achieve this, the team has shown immense patience, commitment and endless optimism in the face of adversity.

This is just a small snapshot of Reprieve’s work throughout 2021, and you will read about a great many more achievements in this report. It has been an honour to step into the role of Chair of Reprieve’s Board of Trustees, and to take on the mantle from Lord (James) Wallace of Tankerness QC, who built on the firm foundation of governance established by the previous Chairs.

I look forward to supporting Reprieve over the coming years to continue the ground-breaking and life-saving work described in this report.

Dame Elish Angiolini DBE PC QC FRSA FRSE Chair of the Board of Trustees

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About Reprieve

Reprieve is...

Effective

Agile

We work in dynamic and fast-moving areas, where our agility enables us to react quickly and stay on the front foot.

We work hard, and we punch above our weight. Each small victory leads to systemic change.

Creative

Resilient

We capture the zeitgeist. We find new ways to frame the debate, and new ways to change people’s minds.

Progress is rarely linear, and sometimes things will not go our way. We will regroup, reassess, and go again.

Fearless

Resolute

We are fearless in ambition, and optimistic in our goals.

We are professional, respectful and accountable. Our commitment is unwavering.

Our Objects

Promoting human rights throughout the world

Reprieve’s charitable objects, set out in our Articles of Association, may be summarised as promoting human rights throughout the world, with a focus on:

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Our Mission
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Our Vision

A world without the death penalty or extreme human rights abuses

To use strategic interventions to achieve our vision

Reprieve’s Mission is to use strategic interventions to end the use of the death penalty globally and to end human rights abuses carried out in the name of “counterterrorism” or “national security”.

Reprieve’s Vision is a world without the death penalty or extreme human rights abuses carried out in the name of “counterterrorism” or “national security”.

IMPACT REPORT

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Our highlights of 2021

Reprieve is based in London (UK) and works closely with a network of fellows, consultants and partners around the world.

Our ground-breaking strategic projects are a product of this global perspective and expertise, allowing us to make real, radical, systemic change to prevent the use of the death penalty and extreme human rights abuses globally.

Our strategic methodology often relies on finding links between countries and regions, and leveraging one to have an impact on the other.

This map* shows the countries in which Reprieve worked in 2021 displayed in white.

Key amendments to the Overseas Operations Bill in the UK

SEE PAGES 45 - 48

One of the few NGOs to visit detention camps in North East Syria

SEE PAGES 37 - 40

Support for an amendment to abolish the death penalty for drug offences in Pakistan SEE PAGES 23 - 26

A major report, Worked to Death: A Study on Migrant Workers and Capital Punishment

SEE PAGES 27 & 28

A moratorium on federal executions in the US

SEE PAGES 13 & 14

The release of long-term juvenile clients from death row in Saudi Arabia

SEE PAGES 19 - 22

A landmark victory in a habeas corpus case in Guantánamo SEE PAGES 31 - 34

A victory in the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights SEE PAGES 15 - 18

A petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of victims of drone strikes in Yemen

SEE PAGES 41 - 44

*based on the United Nations map

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Some of our highlights from 2021:

Death Penalty

Reprieve works to limit the application of the death penalty by chipping away at its use, challenging systems of injustice and running public campaigns to change public perceptions all over the world.

Reprieve is a major advocate against the use of the death penalty on the global stage, undertaking casework and strategic litigation to lead to meaningful systemic change.

Pages 11 - 28 document the work of our regional death penalty teams in the US, Africa, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and South East Asia.

Two child defendants, Ali al-Nimr and Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher – for whom Reprieve had advocated over many years and who had been spared the death penalty in Saudi Arabia – were finally released from prison and allowed to return home to their families.

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MAJOR REPORTS
PUBLISHED
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34,000 SUPPORTERS JOINED OUR CAMPAIGN

We published major reports into the use of the death penalty in Bahrain and Egypt, and a cross-region report investigating the impact of the death penalty on migrant workers.

34,000 Reprieve supporters joined our campaign on behalf of Jagtar Singh Johal, a British national arbitrarily detained, tortured and facing the death penalty in India. ~~70~~ 0

CASE STUDIES

We collected and reviewed over 700 case files of individuals who were sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in Kenya, who are now eligible for re-sentencing.

23[RD] US STATE TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

In the US, the vast majority of states that retain the death penalty did not carry out a single execution. Just 11 executions took place in total across five states, down 35% from 2020 (17).

35%

Virginia became the 23rd US State to abolish the death penalty, the first former Confederate state to do so.

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United States

Reprieve’s targeted and strategic work in the US contributed to 2021 having the lowest execution rate in three decades.

This year, the overwhelming majority of executing states were unable to carry out a single execution due to lethal injection issues. Furthermore, Attorney General Merrick Garland placed a moratorium on all federal executions so the Department of Justice could review its policies and procedures on lethal injection to assess the risk of pain and suffering.

Throughout 2021, Reprieve assisted litigators with execution method challenges, provided advice and support to healthcare companies who object to the misuse of their life-saving medicines in torturous executions, supported foreign nationals facing executions in the US and worked to debunk the pervasive myth that lethal injections are humane.

In doing this, we have facilitated the growth of public concern about the use of this method, creating the space for lawmakers and the public to reconsider lethal injection and the death penalty as a whole.

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

and state lawmakers in Montana defeated legislation that would have radically expanded the list of drugs that officials could use to execute prisoners.

and experimental execution protocol due to lethal injection litigation and engagement by global pharmaceutical companies demanding the return of their surreptitiously purchased medicines.

Case study

The death penalty in the US in numbers

Execution numbers are down as states struggle to acquire lethal injection drugs:

Fewer executions were scheduled and took place:

Concerns about Lethal Injection are growing:

Public support for the death penalty has fallen:

The number of states carrying out executions remains low: Did you know

“lethal injection appears to us to be impossible from a practical point of view today”

Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio, in December 2020, on the prospect of executions taking place in 2021

“Pharmaceutical companies invent medicines to treat disease, ease pain, and save lives – not to cause extreme suffering and death. For that reason, they won’t sell their products to prisons to be used in executions.”

Maya Foa, Joint Executive Director of Reprieve, writing in The Independent, 18 May 2021

Did you know?

Arizona spent $1.5m of taxpayer dollars on likely illicit drugs for lethal injections in 2021, but carried out zero executions.

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Africa

Our recent work in Sub-Saharan Africa has contributed to the continent being a ‘beacon of hope’ in the fight to end the death penalty globally.

Our work in Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya – countries that are at the forefront of efforts to limit the application of the death penalty – has bolstered a continent-wide effort. We represent extremely vulnerable men and women on death row. We have undertaken extensive research, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement to ensure the best outcomes for people on death row and all those at risk of a death sentence in the future.

law. Kenya is embarking on its own resentencing project to assist up to 5,000 people, after the Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional; and Tanzania was ordered to abolish the mandatory death penalty by the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Our work in Sub-Saharan Africa is deeply collaborative. Reprieve has tenacious fellows on the ground, and works in partnership with international and local stakeholders including the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance in Malawi, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and the Legal and Human Rights Centre in Tanzania.

Following a hugely successful resentencing project in Malawi, in which 170 death row prisoners were successfully resentenced away from the death penalty, support for total abolition is growing and lawmakers are actively pursuing total abolition at

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

Malawi Case study

A Radio Play

Alongside our casework, this year, we collaborated with Art & Global Health Centre Africa (ArtGlo), to produce a brand-new radio drama series to ignite conversations around the death penalty. Tionenso broadcast every Thursday from 4 November 2021 on MBC Radio One, one of Malawi’s biggest radio stations. Radio is the most popular and accessible media format in Malawi, able to reach Malawians from all walks of life. The radio drama had a enthusiastic response from the public, with many saying it illustrated for them why the death penalty is no longer needed in Malawi.

“Thank you Reprieve for the new lease of life. Please don’t stop doing this good work. You saved my life. God bless you all.”

The script was developed through workshops with Chiefs, former death-row inmates, government officials and other stakeholders in the Machinga, Nkhata Bay and Dowa Districts of Malawi. It placed the Malawian concept of umunthu – a universal bond, centred on rehabilitation and restoration, that connects all humanity – at the centre of the piece.

Malawian Nassir Ishmael Kara, Reprieve client, released in August 2021 after 19 years imprisonment

Did you know?

There could be as many as 5,000 people eligible for resentencing Did you know after Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory death penalty xxxis unconstitutional in December 2017. Reprieve’s fellows in Kenya collated the most comprehensive database in existence on those who are entitled to resentencing.

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“Keeping inmates on death row, just anxious as to when they would be executed, tortures them to death and kills their souls.”

Alexius Kamangila, Reprieve Fellow, on Malawi’s progress towards abolition

Tanzania Case study

Amini Juma’s Story

This year, we secured a major victory for Reprieve client Amini Juma, a Tanzanian national on death row who was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty. Having successfully campaigned for his death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment in April 2020, Reprieve helped Amini bring his case to the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights to argue that Tanzania had violated his rights guaranteed under the African Charter. This included the right to life, the right to dignity, and the right to be tried in a reasonable time. Amini has always maintained his innocence, and the Court reviewed extensive evidence on this point that was ignored at trial.

Kenya Case study

Reprieve Fellows

In Kenya, Reprieve’s fellows, Winfred Syombua and Shirly Amayo, play a key role in the Kenyan Resentencing Project.

Together they manage critical foundational work, travelling the length and breadth of Kenya to collect court files, speak to eligible prisoners, and identify priority cases for resentencing. Without their efforts, hundreds of people on death row would not have known how to access their right to resentencing.

The Court awarded Amini damages of four million TZ shillings (£1,300), and ordered Tanzania to grant a new sentencing hearing for Amini. It also ordered that the mandatory death penalty be removed for everyone within a year. This shows how a single strategic case can lead to systemic change.

They uncovered cases like that of Isaac, a man who was sentenced to the mandatory death penalty in 2007. After a difficult upbringing and dropping out of school, Isaac fell in with the wrong crowd, down a path which led to him committing a street robbery, for which he was given a mandatory death sentence, despite the crime being lowlevel and non-lethal. He will be resentenced through the Kenyan Resentencing Project, where a court will for the first time assess the mitigating evidence in his case.

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Middle East & North Africa

States in the Middle East and North Africa are among the most prolific executioners anywhere in the world.

Reprieve is one of the few international NGOs working to challenge the death penalty in the region, together with key partners including the European Saudi Organisation on Human Rights (ESOHR) and Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD). Reprieve’s work over the last decade has resulted in fundamental reforms which have saved lives, but there is still a long way to go.

Abdullah al-Zaher, in October and November 2021 respectively. We continue to fight for justice for others still on death row.

Elsewhere, there has been less to celebrate. This year we published major reports, bringing muchneeded transparency to the extensive use of the death penalty and torture in Bahrain and Egypt, ten years on from the Arab Spring. In the face of stateled international public relations campaigns and ‘sportswashing’, Reprieve remain fearless in the fight to secure justice for our clients, and to hold states accountable.

In 2020, Saudi Arabia announced a Royal Decree abolishing the death penalty for children. Much of our work in 2021 has been ensuring that this promise is upheld – and we were delighted to secure the release of long-term clients, Ali al-Nimr and

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

► In February 2021, three of our long-term clients in Saudi Arabia, Ali al-Nimr, Abdullah Hasan al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon, all had their death sentences commuted to ten years’ imprisonment, including time served. Ali was released in October, followed by Abdullah in November.

► We worked on the case of Abdullah alHowaiti, another child defendant on death row in Saudi Arabia, leading to his death sentence being overturned by the Supreme Court in November 2021. His retrial started in December 2021.

Reprieve client in Bahrain, Mohammed Ramadhan

Did you know

xxx Did you know?

“Parliament strongly condemns the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing execution of child offenders despite its claims that it has abolished such executions.”

European Parliament Resolution on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, 8 July 2021

“Ali’s release is a tangible sign of progress but the fact is, the Kingdom still sentences people to death for childhood crimes.”

Maya Foa, Joint Executive Director of Reprieve, on the release of Ali al-Nimr

Reprieve’s 2021 report From Uprisings to Executions shows that Bahrain’s execution rate in 2019 was almost two-thirds of the percapita execution rate in Iran, one of the world’s top executioners.

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Case study

We published two in-depth reports investigating ten years of the death penalty in Bahrain (From Uprisings to Executions, April 2021) and Egypt (The Death Penalty in Egypt, May 2021).

Ali al-Nimr’s Story

Ali al-Nimr, a 17-year-old boy, was arrested in February 2012 as part of the Arab Spring crackdown. He was accused of “encouraging pro-democracy protests using a Blackberry smartphone” and “teaching protestors how to do first aid.” Other children, including Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al Zaher were arrested on similar charges. Dawood was aged 17, while Abdullah was just 15.

In 2015, after three years of detention, Ali was sentenced to death in a secret trial. Prior to this he had been tortured until he “confessed”.

Reprieve has been working on Ali’s case since his initial death sentence, alongside other cases like Dawood’s and Abdullah’s. Individual cases like these were part of a strategic campaign to convince Saudi Arabia to end its use of the death penalty for children. Prior to our work, their cases were not known beyond the courts and their distraught families.

In the immediate aftermath of Ali’s death sentence, Reprieve ran investigations to establish the facts in Ali’s case. Over a six year period, we have led on advocacy and campaigns to overturn his death sentence. We drew attention to his case in meetings with high-level stakeholders, delivered supporter campaigns and achieved widespread media coverage. Importantly, we were able to exert pressure on the UK Government and other governments to seek assurances from their Saudi Arabian counterparts that Ali would not be executed. In 2015, the Saudi authorities carried out a mass execution of 47 people. It is understood that Ali, Dawood and Abdullah would have made it 50, were it not for the strategic and sustained advocacy on their cases.

In August 2018, promoting the Kingdom’s Juvenile Law, a Saudi delegation told the UN that if a crime committed by a juvenile is punishable by death, the sentence shall not exceed more than ten years imprisonment. Then, in April 2020, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced a Royal Decree, insisting that “no-one in Saudi Arabia will be executed for a crime committed as a minor”. We were able to use this announcement to achieve a key milestone in Ali’s case in February 2021, when the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced that his sentence had been commuted to ten years’ imprisonment including time served.

We continued to work on the issue, ensuring the Kingdom’s rulers knew the world was eagerly awaiting the release of Ali, Abdullah and Dawood. After years of hard work, on 27 October 2021, Ali was finally released, on the expected timeline. Abdullah’s release followed in November 2021, with Dawood’s release expected in February 2022.

Reprieve continues to fight for other child defendants on death row.

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South Asia

Reprieve’s work in South Asia uses a holistic, multifaceted long-term strategy aimed at eradicating the use of the death penalty in the region.

We focused on strategic casework in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as cases of Indian migrant workers facing the death penalty in the Gulf and South East Asia. We worked directly on cases of British nationals facing the death penalty in India and Pakistan. One of these cases – that of Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been arbitrarily detained in India since November 2017 – has gained significant media traction

We combine our international expertise with the local expertise of partners on the ground to achieve wider social, political and legal changes.

Demonstrating this approach, throughout 2021 we continued to work together with partners including the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR) in Pakistan to build support towards the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences. We have also worked closely with fellows in India and Sri Lanka, whose onthe-ground expertise enables us to work effectively in a complex and rapidly changing environment.

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

► We advocated to key stakeholders in Pakistan to gather support for an Amendment Bill to the Control of Narcotic Substances Act (CNSA). The Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, would abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences. The Bill was introduced by Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force in 2019, after strategic advocacy by Reprieve and FFR demonstrated that retaining the death penalty for drug offences limited counter-narcotics assistance from abolitionist states, including the UK and the EU.

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Case study

Jagtar Singh Johal’s Story

Jagtar Singh Johal, a British national from Dumbarton, has been arbitrarily detained in India since 2017 after being arrested while in India for his wedding. He was arrested on political charges carrying the death penalty, based on a confession extracted under torture. He is a Sikh activist who sought to draw attention to human rights abuses against India’s Sikh population, including in a blog post calling for accountability for historic anti-Sikh pogroms.

Less than a fortnight after his wedding, whilst shopping with his new wife, Jagtar was bound, hooded with a sack and bundled into a police car by officials in plain clothes. His wife was not told why he had been arrested, what he had been accused of, or how long he would be held. He was not allowed to see a lawyer, family members, or a representative of the British High Commission. This is a clear violation of Indian law on arresting powers and of his rights as an accused person guaranteed under India’s constitution.

Jagtar was severely tortured by police in the week after his arrest. In a handwritten letter, Jagtar states:

“Electric shocks were administered by placing the crocodile clips on my earlobes, nipples and private parts. Multiple shocks were given each day. My legs were pulled apart 4-5 times each time I was questioned and this took place numerous times each day … The electric shocks would also be given at this time … At some stages I was left unable to walk and had to be carried out of the interrogation room.”

Under this torture, Jagtar signed a blank “confession” and was forced to record a video which was broadcast on Indian TV.

Jagtar currently has ten cases pending against him – nine of which are based primarily on the torture-induced “confession”. The tenth case was brought against him in January 2021, relating to a killing that took place while he was incarcerated virtually in isolation under strict COVID-19 measures. Only one of these ten cases has commenced trial in over four years.

This year, Reprieve played an active role in Jagtar’s case:

As of 31 December 2021, Jagtar is still arbitrarily detained and still faces the death penalty. Jagtar is at risk of receiving a death sentence, with three potential charges against him each carrying the death penalty as a possible punishment. Our work on Jagtar’s case continues.

Jagtar Singh Johal

“It’s baffling that the Foreign Office hasn’t sought Jaggi’s release. We’re talking about a young British man facing a death sentence, based on nothing but a supposed confession he recorded after being tortured with electricity. It is about as clear a case of arbitrary detention as you can imagine, but the government hasn’t acted to bring him home. Why?”

“Therefore, Mr Speaker, as we approach the fourth anniversary of Jagtar’s arrest tomorrow, with no charges having been brought in the case by the government of India, will this government be able to grant the smallest of favours to Jagtar’s wife and his family in Dumbarton and declare his detention an arbitrary one?”

Martin Docherty-Hughes, MP for West Dunbartonshire in Prime Minister’s Questions, 3 November 2021

Dan Dolan, Reprieve’s Director of Advocacy, in The Guardian, 28 February 2021

Did you know?

As of 31 December 2021, Jagtar Singh Johal had been detained for 1,518 days, on the basis of a torture-induced confession, without charges against him even being formalised. In this time, the UK has had four Foreign Secretaries and two Prime Ministers.

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South East Asia

The death penalty is widely used across South East Asia, with the majority of death sentences handed down for non-lethal drug crimes.

Reprieve works on strategic cases across South East Asia, focusing on some of the most vulnerable individuals, including those with mental health issues, victims of human trafficking, those with intellectual disabilities, drug mules, foreign nationals and migrant workers, who are disproportionately represented on death rows across the region.

work we have also supported British nationals who face the death penalty in the region.

A key report – Worked to Death: A Study on Migrant Workers and Capital Punishment – published by Reprieve and Migrant CARE in November 2021 revealed the extent to which the death penalty is being applied disproportionately and in a discriminatory fashion to migrant workers in the region, putting these findings into the public domain for the first time.

In 2021, we undertook research and casework on migrant workers facing capital punishment, engaging with many partners in the region including Migrant CARE and LBH Masyarakat. Through our

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

execution in Singapore of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a young Malaysian man with an intellectual disability. We secured widespread media coverage on the case, facilitated interventions from several UN Special Rapporteurs, 13 MPs and Peers, the European Union, other governments, and public figures such as Stephen Fry and Richard Branson.

Case study

Worked to Death

supporting defence investigations and making high-level diplomatic representations.

Our report, Worked to Death: A Study on Migrant Workers and Capital Punishment, produced in partnership with Migrant CARE, combines years of casework, data collection and research across the South East Asia and Gulf regions.

2. Implement safeguards in the application of the death penalty – as required by international law, including abolishing the death penalty for drug offences and ensuring the death penalty is not imposed on protected groups.

South East Asia is a major sending region for migrant workers who travel abroad in search of a better life or to escape poverty. Our report reveals the extent to which migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to the death penalty in the region. Far from their homes and support networks, they often face exploitative labour conditions and are forced to navigate unfamiliar legal systems, in languages and cultures that they might not understand, often facing discrimination and unable to access legal representation. Disadvantaged at every stage of the criminal justice process, they account for a disproportionate number of death row prisoners in many countries.

3. Provide protections for migrant workers – by ratifying the Migrant Workers Convention, regulating the activities of recruitment agencies, carrying out pre-departure training and monitoring working conditions of migrants.

4. Provide protections for victims of human trafficking – including upholding the nonpunishment principle by not punishing victims of trafficking for crimes they have been trafficked to commit.

The report reveals the background behind this, analyses the factors that render migrant workers particularly vulnerable to risk, and makes recommendations for states to implement better protections for this group:

5. Provide rehabilitation for victims and their families – to support social and economic reintegration, including access to employment.

Our casework involving migrant workers facing the death penalty in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore advocates to uphold these protections, and to ensure that vulnerable people are protected from the death penalty.

1. Provide adequate consular assistance – including securing legal representation,

Did you know?

In Malaysia, approximately 44% of all those under sentence of death are foreign nationals, a figure disproportionately high in comparison to the total number of foreign nationals in the country (9% of the population).

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Some of our highlights from 2021:

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CLEARANCE
SECURED
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We secured the clearance for release of four of our clients from Guantánamo, and a landmark habeas corpus victory.

Abuses in Counterterrorism 5

PREVENTED TORTURE & WAR CRIMES

We prevented the UK Government from enabling torture and war crimes through the Overseas Operations Bill.

We secured the repatriation of one of our clients from Guantánamo Bay to his home country.

GAINED ACCESS TO DETENTION CAMPS

We secured access to detention camps in North East Syria multiple times, uncovering that a large number of detained women are likely victims of trafficking. We helped two of these women to have their citizenship re-instated through litigation.

We fought five legal cases in four jurisdictions and conducted five ongoing investigations through our Extrajudicial Executions project. We represent 21 families of people killed in US drone strikes and raids.

Reprieve works all over the world to support marginalised people who face some of the most horrific human rights abuses imaginable, which are carried out in the name of “counterterrorism”. These include torture, arbitrary detention, and the use of lethal drone strikes.

Pages 29 - 48 document Reprieve’s long-term strategic work in ensuring accountability and transparency in the so-called “War on Terror”. In 2021, we have been able to build on our 20 years of experience working in Guantánamo in the context of North East Syria, where a new “Guantánamo for women and children” has emerged. Thousands of families are detained there indefinitely without charge or trial. As lethal drone strikes have proliferated, Reprieve has been there to contest this new extrajudicial weapon of choice. And as we’ve worked on the new frontier of abuses perpetrated by states in the name of “counterterrorism”, we have continued to seek accountability for past abuses, so that we do not forget or repeat the mistakes of the past.

FORMER GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEES SUPPORTED

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We supported 73 former Guantánamo detainees in 28 countries across the world with access to legal assistance, medical care, and vocational and educational training.

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Guantánamo

Case study

Reprieve has been a significant presence in Guantánamo over the nearly 20 years since the prison opened. In this time, we have had to be resilient and resolute in the face of many challenges, delays and lack of progress from US authorities.

We have supported some of our clients since as far back as 2004, so it is especially thrilling to finally secure some stunning victories in 2021.

claim on behalf of Asadullah Haroon Gul. One client, Abdullatif Nasser, was transferred back to his family in Morocco, where we will continue to support him through our Life After Guantánamo Project.

This year, several of our clients, including Saifullah Paracha and Ahmed Rabbani, were cleared for release by the Periodic Review Board, a parole-like process. Together with Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss, we also won a historic habeas corpus

These developments have put us closer than we have ever been to securing the closure of Guantánamo.

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

habeas corpus case on behalf of our client Asadullah Haroon Gul; the first successful habeas challenge in ten years. His detention in Guantánamo was ruled unlawful by a US Federal Court.

Ahmed Rabbani

Ahmed Rabbani was a taxi driver, working in Karachi, Pakistan. He was in his early 30s, recently married, and was expecting a son.

Ahmed was arrested in 2002. US Authorities believed Ahmed Rabbani was well-known extremist Hassan Ghul. He was transferred into CIA Custody in Afghanistan in 2002. His false accuser was transferred $5,000.

Reprieve began supporting Ahmed two years later, when he was transferred from an unknown US Black Site to Guantánamo. Following the landmark ruling in Rasul vs Bush (2004), detainees including Ahmed had a right to legal assistance – which Reprieve was there to provide. Together with co-counsel and cofounder of Reprieve, Clive Stafford-Smith, we have supported Ahmed ever since.

In protest of his detention, Ahmed has been on a hunger strike, on and off, since 2013. In January 2021 we discovered he had lost more than half his body mass, weighing just 36.3kg. He told us that 53% of him had escaped Guantánamo, but the other 47% was still there.

In October 2021, Reprieve secured a major breakthrough at the Periodic Review Board (PRB) where representatives from six key US agencies including the Department of Defence and Homeland Security would decide on whether Ahmed was a threat to US security. We supplied evidence in our capacity as co-counsel for Ahmed, showing him clearly to not be a security threat. The PRB agreed unanimously that he should be released.

Whilst he waits for his release, Ahmed tries to keep busy. He creates astonishing artworks, some of which have been exhibited in New York. He has immersed himself in learning about world

cuisine, mainly Italian and Chinese. He cooks for the other detainees, and thinks of what he’d like to cook for his family when he gets home. This is a man who was being routinely force-fed for years.

The challenge now is ensuring that the PRB’s decision is implemented swiftly. There are delays and holdups, and it is difficult to ascertain why. We continue to work on Ahmed’s behalf, and hope he can meet finally meet his 19-yearold son, Jawad, who he has never yet had the chance to meet face-to-face.

We are in regular contact with Ahmed, keeping him up to date with developments and news, and coordinating with the Life After Guantánamo team to ensure he has a smooth transition back home. Reprieve’s media team run regular stories, ensuring he is not forgotten.

Ahmed – like all detainees still in Guantánamo – is a unique individual, with his own interests, a family, and long-term ambitions. Critically, all Reprieve’s clients in Guantánamo have something in common. None have been charged with a crime. We continue to work towards the complete closure of the prison.

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“I would like justice, obviously, for all the abuse I have suffered, but most importantly, I do not want to go home in a coffin or a body bag. I just want to go home to my family, and to finally – for the first time — hold my son.”

Ahmed Rabbani’s message to President Biden, an op-ed in The Independent via Reprieve, 22 January 2021 Case Study: Ahmed Rabbani

“A historic victory for the rule of law and a much-needed reminder to the US Government that there are limits on what it may do in the name of national security.”

Mark Maher, Reprieve Attorney on Asadullah Haroon Gul’s habeas corpus case

Did you know?

As of 31 December 2021, 39 men remain in Guantánamo. 18 of those have been cleared for release, meaning six separate US agencies including the Department of Defense and Homeland Security have ruled that they pose no security risk.

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Life After Guantánamo

Reprieve’s Life After Guantánamo project is the only project in the world solely dedicated to assisting individuals formerly detained in Guantánamo, and a natural progression from our Guantánamo work, as we continue to support our clients following their release.

Through this project, we have continued to offer and provide holistic support to 73 former detainees in 28 countries across the world. This year, we have welcomed one additional former detainee to the cohort, Abdullatif Nasser, who returned home to Morocco in July 2021.

Whilst the release of a detainee is often a cause for celebration, a new set of challenges begins. Detainees are often at risk of further abuses, detention and persecution. In delivering Life After Guantánamo, Reprieve ensures that former detainees are supported to overcome these obstacles.

Life After Guantánamo’s key achievements to date

As of 2021, Life After Guantánamo has supported:

“I was born again on July 19. My birthday is no longer March 4. I was born yesterday on July 19, I have no words to describe my overwhelming sense of happiness and joy. It is like a miracle after 20 years to be home and celebrate Eid together with my family.”

Case study

Abdullatif Nasser

Abdullatif Nasser is one of five detainees who were cleared for release from Guantánamo in 2016, just prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. President Trump pledged to halt any further releases from Guantánamo. It rapidly became clear that Abdullatif was going nowhere.

Reprieve’s ground-breaking Life After Guantánamo project seeks to support him through these challenges to re-establish his life. In Abdullatif’s case, Reprieve ensured that this support was available before he even landed. There was a local lawyer in place on the ground awaiting his arrival who was able to arrange his safe passage and appropriate legal status.

Abdullatif Nasser was detained in Guantánamo from May 2002. Over the course of 19 years, he has suffered multiple forms of torture and abuse. He was in solitary confinement and subjected to ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’. He went on hunger strike twice.

Reprieve are now in weekly contact with Abdullatif to ascertain and meet his needs. We also support him in identifying the next steps in his life and the vocational training needed to get him there.

Abdullatif learned English during his detention at Guantánamo, even writing his own dictionary. He is now taking further English training and computer training to enable him to secure a job and live as close to a normal life as he can after his detention in Guantánamo.

At no point in his detention was he ever charged with a crime. For the last five years of his detention, he had been considered to be of no threat to the US – a unanimous decision of the Periodic Review Board. Reprieve never stopped fighting for Abdullatif, in courts and in the media, and when President Biden entered the Oval Office, we stepped up that fight.

The last 19 years have been robbed from Abdullatif. The Life After Guantánamo project exists to bring some normality back for him and his family.

On 19 July 2021, five years later, Abdullatif was flown to his home country, Morocco.

Abdullatif is now training to become an English teacher.

“It’s the nicest project I have ever worked on. For the detainees, their future had been taken away from them. Our work is to enable them to see a future again and build it together with them.”

Martina Burtscher, Fellow – Secret Prisons (Life After Guantánamo)

Abdullatif Nasser, former Detainee on his release from Guantánamo this year (as reported by ABC News)

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Detention in North East Syria

Twenty years on from 9/11 and the opening of Guantánamo, a new detention site has emerged in North East Syria which holds tens of thousands of people – the majority of them women and children.

As with Guantánamo, the detainees in the camps and prisons in North East Syria are all being held indefinitely without charge or trial, leading many to describe this as a “Guantánamo for women and children”.

Detainees are held in appalling conditions which both UN rights experts and UK courts have found to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The detainees are also at risk of transfer to Iraq or Assad-controlled Syria, where they would face torture, disappearance, and the death penalty.

Building on our unique expertise in fighting arbitrary detention in Guantánamo itself, Reprieve has been at the forefront of providing critical support to detainees, including British nationals, in the camps and prisons in North East Syria.

In 2021, we have been able to gain direct access to detainees held in North East Syria, enabling us to conduct investigations, support detainees, and advocate for respect for their fundamental human rights.

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

► We have visited North East Syria multiple times, one of very few NGOs to gain access to the detention camps.

► We helped to establish the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Trafficked Britons in Syria, bringing together a crossparty group of MPs and peers to seek just resolution in the cases of people from the UK who were trafficked by ISIS. Reprieve is the Secretariat for the APPG and facilitated a sixmonth inquiry into the issue.

Case study

Zara’s Story

Our Trafficked to ISIS Report, published in April 2021, documents the circumstances by which numerous British families currently detained in North East Syria were trafficked to, or within, territories controlled by ISIS. This report was fundamental in mapping the crisis, leading to the formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficked Britons in Syria.

This report tells the stories of people like Zara, a British woman who was trafficked to Syria with her baby daughter by a member of a notorious grooming gang. This is her story. Real names have not been used and some details have been altered to protect her anonymity.

Zara met the man who groomed her, Ash, through a dating site for practising Muslims. Zara had spent her teen years as the primary carer for her mother. Aged 20, isolated at home, she was looking for a way to begin a family of her own.

Ash groomed Zara through the dating site, pressuring her into marriage within just a few months of meeting. Once married, Ash isolated Zara from her family, prohibiting her from seeing her mother, and over time became physically aggressive.

In 2013, Zara fell pregnant with Ash’s child. It was around this time that Ash left for Syria. Zara was moved into social housing far away from her family, where she became increasingly depressed. Her self-esteem had been destroyed by Ash’s abuse and coercive behaviour. Ash continued to manipulate and threaten Zara from Syria, telling her that he would have “his people” kidnap their daughter and bring her to Syria if Zara did not agree to visit him.

After years of grooming and emotional manipulation, Zara believed these threats and eventually, in desperation and fear, succumbed to Ash’s coercion. Ash and unknown men arranged for Zara and her baby daughter to be taken to Syria.

Once in Syria, Zara learned that Ash had also groomed a number of other young women and coerced them into marriage and travel to Syria.

Zara was sexually exploited and forced into domestic servitude alongside these women. Zara and her daughter would be locked in the house for days, without food or water, and Ash controlled what Zara ate to the point of starvation.

When Zara became pregnant again, she tried to escape with her daughter, but was caught and violently punished. Her daughter was taken away from her “to teach her a lesson” and Zara was taken to another house and locked up for several weeks. She was subsequently detained in a house where she gave birth to her second child.

In 2016, Ash disappeared and is presumed dead. Living in a hostel for unmarried women with her two young children, Zara was forced to ‘choose’ between marrying another man or remaining locked up in the women’s house in appalling conditions with little food for her children. The second man, who subjected Zara to further forced marriage and sexual exploitation, was killed by a drone strike a few days after she gave birth to her third child.

Eventually, Zara managed to get her and her children out of ISIS territory and in early 2019, she and her three young children were transferred to a detention camp controlled by the Kurdish authorities.

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“We must bring back British families. This is the safest option for Britain, and the only option that protects Britain’s international reputation for standing up for universal values and human rights.”

“I have been to Camp Roj twice, and have seen its inhumane reality. Those living in its rows of tents patrolled by men with guns are mostly children, and include British citizens who our government would rather ignore.”

Rt. Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, in the foreword to the Trafficked to ISIS Report, April 2021

Maya Foa, Joint Executive Director of Reprieve, in an Op-Ed in The Guardian, 26 February 2021

Did you know?

Over 80 percent of detainees in North East Syria are women and children, including approximately 20 British families. At least 19 of these detainees have been deprived of their UK citizenship, including women who travelled to Syria as children.

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Extrajudicial Executions

Since 9/11, the use of lethal drone strikes has proliferated. Reprieve’s Extrajudicial Executions team fights to hold the US and its allies accountable for their unlawful use of drones as a new ‘extrajudicial’ weapon of choice.

Lethal drone strikes and ground raids carried out away from traditional battlefields are equivalent to the death penalty without charge or trial. They terrorise communities and kill innocent men, women and children. They are counterproductive and undermine international norms limiting the use of force. When states such as the US carry out these strikes, they set dangerous precedents for others to follow.

accountability. Our long-term engagement with communities and clients means that we are uniquely placed to help them amplify their voices and ensure their stories are heard in Washington DC, London and wherever powerful decision-makers reside.

In 2021, we have fought for transparency and accountability through our investigations, strategic litigation and advocacy. We have put a human face to a debate that is often steeped in body counts, and pushed lawmakers and the public to engage with the communities behind the numbers.

For over a decade, Reprieve has worked closely with affected communities in Yemen, Libya, Pakistan and Syria, investigating their cases and trying to secure

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

► We worked to expose the UK’s secret targeting policy, which allows British troops to engage in US drone strikes even when those strikes fail to comply with the UK’s own interpretation of international law. In May 2021, Reprieve’s Jennifer Gibson (Project Lead - Extrajudicial Executions) gave oral and written evidence before the Information Tribunal arguing for full disclosure of the policy. We also assisted victims to write directly to the UK Defence Secretary seeking answers about the US strikes that killed their families.

event to the UN Human Rights Council: In pursuit of Human Rights and Accountability: Challenges around Regulating the Use of Force with partners PAX for Peace. Panellists included the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Countering Terrorism. Fifteen state representatives were amongst the 78 attendees.

Case study

The Al Ameri, Al Taisy and Al Khobzi families in Yemen

On 12 December 2013, Abdullah Al Taisy married Warda Sorini. It should have been a day of joy, but the US attacked the wedding convoy, killing 12 guests in the Al Ameri and Al Taisy families. UN Special Rapporteurs and the Yemeni authorities called it an extrajudicial killing.

Three years later, in January 2017, the US carried out a raid which killed 26 people, including 15 from the Al Ameri family: six children, six women and three men – farmers and construction workers. The US has since admitted to killing 12 civilians in that raid but still not offered answers or an apology.

Then in March 2017, Trump reportedly issued a directive to “aggressively target” the whole clan, numbering thousands of people, and the Al Ameri, Al Khobzi and Al Taisy families were targeted a further five times.

partnership with counsel at Doughty Street Chambers, we requested a cessation of strikes against the community; independent, thorough and transparent post-action investigations; and the publication of a targeting policy that is compliant with international law. The petition and precautionary measures request were accompanied by 60 pages of witness evidence and over 100 exhibits, based on years of on-the ground investigations and research. The filing was widely covered in the international press.

In total, the US has killed 37 people in these three families, almost one third of these being children between the ages of three months and 14 years. The first strike, at the Al Ameri-Al Taisy wedding in 2013, left 73 children without a breadwinner.

These families’ experience with drones show just how indiscriminate the programme can be, and how little transparency or accountability there is. As a result, entire families live in fear of the next strike, not knowing when or who it will hit, just that it will come. The fear creates a constant trauma that has serious long-term impacts.

In June 2021, we wrote to Ben Wallace MP, UK Secretary of State, on behalf of family members to ask whether the UK had a role in the strikes that killed their loved ones and to request a meeting. The families are still awaiting a response.

In January 2021, we filed a petition and request for precautionary measures on behalf of Aziz Al Ameri and his community against the US Government before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Working in

We continue to advocate for the Al Ameri, Al Taisy and Al Khobzi families, and all other victims of lethal and unlawful drone strikes.

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“I am a family man and all I want in life is to see my children succeed and achieve their dreams, but the American drones have deprived us of our dreams.”

Adel Al Manthari, a civil servant and sole survivor of a drone strike that killed 4 members of his family, leaving him with severe disabilities. With Reprieve’s support he addressed the UN Human Rights Council and the Airspace Tribunal in September 2021

“A decision from the Inter-American Commission would at a minimum provide something the families have never had—recognition of the harm that has been done to them. A decision in their favor would finally bring some accountability and would force the U.S. to reckon with 10 years of running a shadow killing program that has led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent [people].”

Jennifer Gibson, Project Lead – Extrajudicial Executions, Vice, 26 January 2021

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Torture Accountability

As abuses in counterterrorism have expanded from the use of Guantánamo into drone killings and arbitrary detention in North East Syria, Reprieve has led the fight against these new and dangerous state practices.

But we also work to uncover and seek accountability for past abuses, such as the use of torture, and strive to ensure they can never happen again. This is the central goal of our Torture Accountability work.

Operations Bill, which without intervention would have effectively decriminalised torture and war crimes committed by UK Forces overseas.

The battle to uphold human rights, transparency and accountability within the Government’s approach to counterterrorism is often long and uphill. Key results in 2021 have shown the importance of Reprieve’s role in ensuring survivors of torture attain justice and torturers are held accountable.

In 2021, we continued innovative legal action seeking accountability for the use of torture. We are challenging both the Government’s refusal to hold a full, judge-led inquiry into UK complicity in torture and rendition and the Government’s use of Covert Human Intelligent Sources (CHIS), where they risk getting involved in torture and other abuses. We also celebrated key amendments to the Overseas

Reprieve’s key achievements in 2021

such as torture. As a result of our legal challenge, the Government introduced the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, effectively conceding a key part of our litigation that the use of CHIS should be put into statute.

► We continued our legal challenge to the Government’s policy of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS), challenging the lack of legal basis on which it seeks to authorise its covert agents to get involved in criminality, and its lack of express limits on the crimes they can participate in – even where they may commit severe abuses

“This move to decriminalise torture was always disastrously ill-judged.”

Dan Dolan, Reprieve’s Director of Advocacy on the Overseas Operations Bill, in The Guardian, 20 April 2021

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Case study

Securing major amendments to the Overseas Operations Bill

In May 2021, we celebrated key amendments to the Overseas Operations Bill. Sold to MPs and the public as legislation designed to protect British soldiers from ‘vexatious’ litigation, the bill would have created a so-called ‘triple lock’ against prosecutions, including a ‘presumption against prosecution’ for offences committed overseas after five years, even for the most serious crimes such as torture.

Here is a summary of how Reprieve’s work contributed towards this historic victory:

This is an example of Reprieve’s resilience and resoluteness. In opposing key parts of the Overseas Operations Bill, we worked with many partners and stakeholders, employing a multiplicity of methods to protect the key principle that survivors of torture deserve justice, and torturers must be held accountable. Our work in this area continues.

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Plans for the future

Reprieve intends to continue working towards our vision; a world without the death penalty, or extreme human rights abuses carried out in the name of the “counterterrorism’’ or “national security”. We do this through a multi-pronged approach of investigation, strategic litigation, advocacy, communications and campaigns.

Through 2022, we will continue to strive to uphold justice and the rule of law, to hold power to account and fight unlawful state abuses, and to defend and save lives across the world.

We will:

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Fundraising

In 2021 we received income of

£3,581,107

2021 Focus

Throughout 2021, Reprieve’s Development Team had a focus on raising income, building the profile of the organisation and public education.

Charitable Organisations

The focus of our fundraising efforts remains on generating income from charitable organisations, statutory bodies and individuals. Income from charitable organisations grew from 2020 due to some new grants as well as some uplifts being awarded.

Individual Donations

We continued to see growth in donations from individuals, specifically in online and regular donations. However, this was a much smaller growth than in previous years as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be felt. Challenges in hosting events due to the pandemic meant that in 2021, as in 2020, there was a significant reduction in income from events compared to previous years. However, we were able to make up much of this income through hosting an online auction and prize draw.

Corporate

Although it comprises a small portion of Reprieve’s overall income, in 2021 our corporate income grew almost threefold owing to a new corporate donor.

Donation and fundraising policies

We have a comprehensive donation policy as set out by Reprieve’s Board of Trustees, which clearly outlines in which situations we do, or do not, accept donations. We did not undertake any work throughout the year with professional fundraisers or commercial participators.

We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and comply with all the relevant standards set out in the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Reprieve strives for the highest standards of honesty and integrity when commencing any fundraising activity and takes any complaints meaningfully. When any complaint is received in regards to fundraising carried out by Reprieve, it is recorded and will be investigated as appropriate. Any serious complaint would be escalated to our Senior Leadership Team and Trustees. Reprieve may involve internal or external lawyers if deemed necessary. Reprieve did not receive any fundraising complaints in 2021.

We take our duty of care to our supporters seriously and have a safeguarding policy agreed by the Board of Trustees which forms part of the contract of all Reprieve staff. We judge carefully how we communicate to supporters– of both a financial and non-financial ask nature. All communications are sent electronically unless a physical letter is specifically requested from the donor, and all supporters have explicitly opted-in to receiving emails from Reprieve. On all communications we have an obvious and easy way to perform an unsubscribe action. Where we identify that a supporter is vulnerable and does not have capacity we would not accept a financial donation and are committed to ensuring that our communications with all supporters are respectful and mindful of their circumstances. In these incidents we would proactively cease communication with the individual and ensure they do not re-join our mailing list. In 2021 we reviewed and updated our policy regarding protection of vulnerable supporters.

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Thank you to our supporters

Reprieve relies on the generosity of our supporters and partners to continue our

We are extremely grateful to all those who continue to stand in solidarity with Reprieve for all support they provide – giving up their time, money and in-kind support to help us uphold the human rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We are committed to ensuring that our income is used efficiently, effectively and responsibly by making every pound count in our fight to save lives and deliver justice. We are thankful to everyone who chooses to support us financially.

We would like to thank:

A4ID’s Rule of Law Expertise Programme Bertha Foundation Clifford Chance Foundation

The Persula Foundation

Robert Byass

Roger Ross and the team at Lots Road Auctions Rupert Bondy The Roddick Foundation Sigrid Rausing Trust

The David and Elaine Potter Foundation David and Victoria Gill European Commission Evan Cornish Foundation Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office The Hollick Family Foundation Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Laura Kinsella Foundation

The Sounouyergon Fund, hosted by Swiss Philanthropy Foundation

The Tinsley Charitable Trust The Tolkien Trust Victoria Miro Gallery

Vital Projects Fund

The Woodford Family Charitable Trust

The Law Society Charity

The Woodward Charitable Trust

Lund Trust, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

We would also like to thank the many, many donors, supporters and partners who could not be named in this report or wished to remain anonymous.

The Muriel Jones Foundation

People’s Postcode Lottery

investigations, litigation, casework and campaigns. Without your support, we would not have achieved all we have been able to over the past year.

We receive steadfast support from our Patrons and Ambassadors and would like to thank them for everything they did for Reprieve throughout 2021

Ambassadors

Patrons

Alan Bennett Gordon Roddick Jon Snow Julie Christie

David Morrissey Sophie Okonedo Lady Sue Woodford-Hollick Victoria Miro

Lord (Ken) Macdonald of River Glaven QC

Marina Warner

Baroness (Martha) Lane-Fox of Soho

Paul Hamann

Lord (Richard) Rogers of Riverside CH

Ruth Rogers

Dame Vivienne Westwood

We would like to pay a special tribute to Lord (Richard) Rogers who sadly died at the end of 2021. We thank Richard for all he did for Reprieve. We were very lucky to have him as a Patron.

If you would like further information or to discuss how you can support our work please contact us at: supporters@reprieve.org.uk or to make a gift, please visit our website at www.reprieve.org

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Governance, Finance and Risks

Reprieve is a company limited by guarantee incorporated on the 11 April 2006 and is governed by its Articles of Association, a copy of which is available on request. The company is also a registered charity.

The directors of the company are also charity trustees. They are appointed to serve for a period of three years, whereupon they may be reappointed, but a Trustee who has served for two consecutive terms of office must take a break from office for a year before he or she can be reappointed for a third term. The Articles of Association specify that there must be at least four trustees.

Income

The year to 31 December 2021, total income generated significantly increased by: £269,269

Expenditure

As anticipated and in line with the increased income, expenditure increased by:

£165,394

Funding

Following a concerted effort to diversify our funding sources, Reprieve’s transition to a more sustainable funding base has been effective, resulting in:

45.7%

of Reprieve’s income coming from individual donations and Gift Aid in 2021 and the remaining income being received from trusts, foundations and statutory donors. Our financial reserves position remains strong

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Staff
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Throughout 2021, Reprieve employed an average of 44 full time staff.

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Financial review

The financial statements contained in this report have been prepared in accordance with the FRS102 Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’, applicable accounting standards and the Companies Act 2006.

Income

Our fundraising costs amounted to 10.8% of our expenditure and 10.5% of our income for the year. For every pound we raised in income 86.5p was spent on our charitable activities. This is a slight decrease on the figure for 2020 (89.3p).

Total income for 2021 was £3,581,107 compared with £3,311,838 in the previous year, an increase of 8.1%. A breakdown of donations and grants received is shown in notes 2 and 3 to the financial statements.

At the end of 2021, we were regularly communicating with over 96,000 supportive individuals, and had managed to increase the funding commitment of several trusts and foundations, as well as winning new statutory funding. This was an increase of over 23,000 compared to 2020 which was reflective of a concerted effort to engage and steward our online donors.

Expenditure

Total expenditure in the year increased to £3,476,308 from £3,310,914 in 2020, an increase of 5%. The increase in expenditure was reflected in the budget for 2021 including decisions to increase staff in strategic areas of work and strategic investments.

A breakdown of all expenditure including an analysis of support costs is shown in notes 6 – 9 to the financial statements, and staff costs are set out in note 11.

Expenditure is allocated into two main categories: charitable activities, and the cost of raising funds. Charitable activities comprise the costs of providing investigation, legal representation and public education on the death penalty (DP) and abuses in counter-terrorism (ACT), the two main areas of work by which the charity furthers its charitable objects. Expenditure on charitable activities was £3,100,979 in 2021 (£2,010,776, DP and £1,090,203, ACT) compared to £2,958,307 in the previous year, an increase of 4.8%.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet on page 74 of the financial statements shows the financial position of the charity on 31 December 2021. Total net assets at the year-end were £1,569,545, made up of unrestricted funds of £1,536,495 and restricted funds of £33,050. Net assets were slightly higher compared to 2020 when we held £1,464,746 of net assets.

Our fundraising costs in 2021 were £375,329, a slight increase from £352,607 in 2020. Fundraising costs include staff time spent on preparing supporter communications to the general public, and applying for and reporting on grants, both restricted and unrestricted. Ongoing investments in our website and digital fundraising work brought returns in 2021 and continue to mitigate against the risk of volatility in trusts’, foundations’ and major donors’ support.

Financial Outlook

Reprieve’s financial position remains strong and the charity is well placed to meet its current and future commitments. During 2021, we continued to improve our financial processes and controls, and undertook scenario planning throughout the year to identify management actions that might be necessary to maintain a sound financial position while continuing to invest in opportunities in pursuit of our charitable objectives.

Reprieve relies to an important extent on the continued support of a number of trusts and foundations and a large number of individual donors to whom we wish to express our sincere thanks. We view 2022 positively, as we are beginning the year with a high percentage of confirmed income. We continue to have ambitious targets to continue to grow our individual and regular giving, specifically expanding our digital reach and will continue to proactively diversify our income from trusts, foundations and statutory funders. We recognise the impact that the external environment may have both on our income and expenditure in 2022 and are taking proactive steps to monitor and mitigate this impact.

Public Benefit

The Trustees are satisfied that the objects and mission of the charity, and the activities to pursue them that we describe below, satisfy the principles of public benefit. The Charity Commission in its “Public Benefit: Rules For Charities” guidance states that there are two key principles to be met to show that an organisation’s aims are for the public benefit: first, there must be an identifiable benefit which is not outweighed by any detriment or harm; and secondly, the benefit must be to the public in general or a sufficient section of the public, and not give rise to more than incidental personal benefit.

Reserves and Investment Policy

Reprieve has no endowment funding and no substantial assets and is entirely dependent on income from grants, sponsorship and donor funding, which are subject to fluctuation from year to year. We aim to be flexible and nimble in our operational activities and require protection against unforeseen events and the ability to continue operating despite adverse or damaging events.

Our reserves policy provides parameters for the calculation and management of reserves and is reviewed annually. A good reserves policy gives confidence to stakeholders that the charity’s finances are being properly managed and will also provide an indicator of future funding needs and its overall resilience. The prudence of holding reserves must always be managed against the reasonable expectation that Reprieve should use its funds directly for its charitable purposes.

As part of the review of the reserves policy in December 2021, the Trustees revised the target level of reserves to be between 4 months and 5.5 months of operating costs, calculated at the start of the financial year and reported to the Board, and then reviewed by the Board on a quarterly basis. The calculation will also be reviewed if at any point it comes to the attention of either the Board or the Executive Director that the reserves are likely to fall outside the acceptable target range.

The charity’s total reserves at 31 December 2021 are £1,569,545 of which £33,050 are restricted funds. The restricted funds will be spent in line with the donors’ conditions. The charity’s accumulated ‘free’ reserves (that is, our unrestricted reserve minus fixed assets (£46,061)) at 31 December 2021 were £1,490,434 which represents 4.6 months’ operating costs based on 2022’s anticipated running costs.

The Trustees felt it prudent to maintain the charity’s reserves above 4 months to allow for the opportunity to strategically invest in planned work and to withstand significant unexpected risks that could affect the charity, including significant income fluctuations or unexpected payments.

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Risk statement

The Trustees are aware of their responsibility to ensure that the major risks to which the charity is exposed are identified and to establish systems to manage those risks. In 2021, the Risk Committee met three times to monitor and update the organisation’s risk register, which identifies potential risks and mitigation. Under the Terms of Reference of the Risk Committee, the committee is required to meet at least twice a year but may convene additional meetings to meet the needs, as they arise, of the Board or Committees.

Reprieve’s Risk Committee is committed to notifying the Charity Commission of any serious incidents.

The risk register is a comprehensive document setting out all risks identified. These risk areas are monitored regularly and principal risks and uncertainties are flagged. The Risk Committee is taking an active role in monitoring the risks and mitigating steps identified in connection with Covid-19 and other external factors. The Risk Committee is satisfied that management is taking appropriate action at this time.

Financial

Inadequate reserves or cashflow

Reprieve is a charity that is dependent upon donations and grants from individuals, trusts and institutional donors.

The financial stability and appropriate use of finances is vital to ensure that Reprieve is able to continue to meet its charitable objects.

In 2021, the principal risks and uncertainties identified by the charity were as follows:

Financial

In 2021, the principal risks and uncertainties identified by the charity were:

Risk identified

Action taken to mitigate the risk

External

Turbulent political environment or economic environment.

The global pandemic of Covid-19 impacted all areas of Reprieve’s work in 2021 and presented risks to our ability to effectively carry out our work, the health and safety of our staff and our ability to fundraise.

Operational Loss of critical, confidential or personal data or assets The ongoing climate of remote and hybrid working in 2021 resulted in an increased risk to the security of our data and assets.

Fraud or theft

As a small charity working in high risk countries there is a significant risk of fraud or theft of charity resources.

Compliance

Breach of foreign laws and regulations

During 2021, we undertook a significant amount of work in and some travel to countries which are sanctioned by the US, UK and EU.

Operational

Safeguarding of clients and staff

The protection from harm of our staff and clients is a priority for Reprieve and remains one of the principal risks of any charity working with vulnerable individuals.

62

Governance and Decision Making

The Board of Trustees meets four times each year to discuss and review strategy, planning, development, financial and administrative matters. The Board has delegated authority to an Executive Director as well as several committees that consist of Board Members and senior staff members.

In addition, the Board sets up sub-committees from time to time to carry out work that requires Board oversight.

Each of these committees has made significant contributions to the governance and management of Reprieve in 2021. An induction programme ensures that new Trustees are aware of the full range of their responsibilities, and enables them to learn about Reprieve in a structured way so that they are able, from the start, to understand the charity’s objectives and subscribe to them with conviction. This is usually supplemented by a Board Away Day, and visits to the Reprieve office for Trustees to learn more about specific areas of Reprieve’s work if they wish. Due to Covid-19 this did not take place in 2021 but we are hopeful that it may be possible in 2022. At each Board meeting, a Reprieve employee is invited to make a presentation of their work, and this means that over time Trustees become familiar with the full range of work carried out by Reprieve. Trustees attend Reprieve events wherever possible and meet Reprieve’s key stakeholders.

While the Board of Trustees sets policy and strategy, day-to-day management of the organisation is delegated to the Executive Director.

Staff Team

Joint Executive Directors Anna Yearley and Maya Foa led the staff team in 2021.

In addition to the Joint Executive Directors, two other directors, Daniel Dolan and Chai Patel provided oversight of the casework and advocacy teams. The Directors are supported by a team of Deputy Directors who provide direction and support for Reprieve’s work. Together, these senior staff members act as a management team, taking collective responsibility for ensuring the effective management and forward planning of Reprieve in line with decisions of the Board.

During 2021, Reprieve employed an average of 44 employees and ended the year with 45 employees. A number of part-time consultants provide support with different aspects of our work.

Reprieve continued to benefit from the exceptional work undertaken by our fellows across the world.

We are very grateful for the effort and commitment of our fellows, paid interns and secondees, who come to Reprieve from a variety of supportive law firms, corporations and academic institutions around the world. Their expertise and dedication was critical to our impact.

Remuneration Policy

Key management salaries are set as part of the overall staff salary structure by the Joint Executive Directors and approved by the Board through the annual budget approval process. The Joint Executive Directors’ salaries are set by the Board. Salary levels are set with reference to the skillset and experience that staff members need to have to carry out our charitable activities. This is assessed annually. Many of our staff members have a legal or other professional qualification and almost all staff members could earn considerably more elsewhere.

Reprieve has always maintained a relatively flat and transparent salary structure. Our current policy is that the highest paid member of staff should not be paid more than double the lowest paid member of staff (on a full-time basis).

Financial Controls

An income and expenditure budget is approved by the Trustees at the beginning of the financial year. Detailed financial procedures have been developed to control the charity’s finances. The Joint Executive Director and Head of Finance submit financial reports to each Board of Trustees meeting. During 2021, the Joint Executive Directors and the Deputy Director for Legal and Governance were authorised signatories of the bank accounts. Transactions made online require two separate logins. The Joint Executive Director must obtain permission from the Trustees for any expenditure in excess of £5,000 that has not been approved within the annual budget.

The Finance Committee meets in advance of each Board meeting and considers a draft financial report as submitted by the Joint Executive Director and Head of Finance. This is an opportunity for the figures to be scrutinised in more detail by members of the Board, and provides an opportunity for members of the Finance Committee to input their expertise in the financial management of the organisation.

Going Concern

After making appropriate enquiries, and reviewing the potential ongoing impact of Covid-19, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

64

Reference and administrative information

Trustees Lord (James) Wallace of Tankerness QC Chair – Retired April 2021 Dame Elish Angiolini Chair – Appointed April 2021 Nasir Asad Ahmad Retired – April 2021 Tanya Steele Retired – April 2021 Nadege Genetay Treasurer Adrian Cohen Dr. Andrew Graham Retired April 2021 Simon Tuttle Ayesha Hazarika Stephen Kinsella Alexandra Pringle Jane Lush Yemsrach Hailemariam Bella Sankey Appointed June 2021 Luca Bosatta Appointed October 2021 Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu Appointed April 2022 Matthew McGregor Appointed April 2022 Christopher Duckett Appointed April 2022

Joint Executive Directors Anna Yearley
Maya Foa
Casework Director Chai Patel Appointed 9 August 2021
Advocacy Director Daniel Dolan Appointed as Director 8 April 2021
Registered company number 05777831
Registered charity number 1114900
Registered ofce 10 Queen Street Place
London
EC4R 1BE
Auditors Haysmacintyre LLP
10 Queen Street Place
London
EC4R 1BE
Bankers Barclays Bank plc
Co-operative Bank plc
Virgin Money plc
Nationwide plc

66

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of Reprieve for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Approval

In preparing this report, the Trustees have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006. This report was approved by the Trustees on 6 April 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Dame Elish Angiolini DBE PC QC FRSA FRSE, Chair of the Board of Trustees

68

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Reprieve for the year ended 31 December 2021 which comprise of the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Independent Auditors’ Report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

70

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’

Report (which incorporates the strategic report and the directors’ report).

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 66, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate journal entries to revenue and management bias in accounting estimates. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Based on our understanding of the charitable company and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of noncompliance with laws and regulations related to those applying to small charitable companies, and we considered the extent to which noncompliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, corporation tax and payroll tax.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc. org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of audit report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Steven Harper (Senior Statutory Auditor)

10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP, Statutory Auditors Date:

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

74

Statement of financial activities

Notes Restricted
funds £		 Unrestricted
funds £		 Total
2021 £		 Total
2020 £
Income from:
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
Death penalty (DP)
3
Promotion of human rights in
counter-terrorism (ACT)
3
Other Trading activities
4
Investments
5
Rent rebate
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising Funds
6
Charitable activities:
Death Penalty (DP)
7
Promotion of human rights in
counter-terrorism (ACT)
7
Total expenditure
Net (expenditure)/income
10
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds at 1 January
Total unds at 31 December
16,17		 46,400
1,015,444
326,671
-
-
-
1,388,515
116,913
980,980
306,732
1,404,625
(16,110)
759
(15,351)
48,399
33,048		 1,657,464
228,167
228,347
3,069
3,545
72,000
2,192,592
258,416
1,029,796
783,471
2,071,683
120,909
(759)
120,150
1,416,347
1,536,497		 1,703,864
1,243,611
555,018
3,069
3,545
72,000
3,581,107
375,329
2,010,776
1,090,203
3,476,308
104,799
-
104,799
1,464,746
1,569,545		 1,521,604
1,260,982
520,225
3,221
5,806
-
3,311,838
352,607
2,065,374
892,933
3,310,914
924
-
924
1,463,822
1,464,746

Balance sheet

Notes 2021 £ 2020 £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
12
Current assets
Debtors
13
Cash at bank
Total
Creditors:
amounts falling due within one year
14
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors:
amounts falling due after more than one year
15
Net assets
Charity funds
Restricted funds
16,17
Unrestricted funds
16,17
Total funds		 46,061
324,713
1,871,410
2,196,123
(572,639)
1,623,484
1,669,545
(100,000)
1,569,545
33,050
1,536,495
1,569,545		 26,874
250,601
2,262,876
2,513,477
(875,605)
1,637,872
1,664,746
(200,000)
1,464,746
48,399
1,416,347
1,464,746

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 6 April 2022 and signed on their behalf, by: Dame Elish Angiolini DBE PC QC FRSA FRSE (Chair) Nadege Genetay (Treasurer) The notes on pages 76 – 89 form part of these financial statements.

All amounts derive from continuing activities. Full comparative figures by fund are shown in note 23. The notes on pages 76 – 89 form part of these financial statements.

76

Notes to the financial statements

Cash flow statement

2021 £ 2020 £
Cash fows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities
Cash fows from investing activities:
Interest received
Purchase of furniture, fttings and equipment
Total		 (348,499)
3,545
(46,512)
(42,967)		 25,513
5,806
(6,081)
(275)
Net cash (used in) investing activities:
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		 (391,466)
2,262,876
1,871,410		 23,238
2,239,638
2,262,876
Reconciliation of net income to
net cash fow from operating activities:
Net income for the reporting period
(as per the statement of fnancial activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges
Interest received
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities		 104,799
27,324
(3,545)
(74,112)
(402,965)
(348,499)		 924
17,326
(5,806)
131,343
(120,274)
25,513
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents:
Cash in hand
Notice deposits
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		 708,134
1,163,276
1,871,410		 1,103,144
1,159,732
2,262,876

The notes on pages 76 – 89 form part of these financial statements.

1 Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgments and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

Basis of preparation of financial statements

of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the company.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (second edition effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Critical Accounting Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the accounting policies, Trustees are required to make judgement, estimates, and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Reprieve meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affected current and future periods.

Preparation of accounts on a going concern basis

After making appropriate enquiries and reviewing the forecast potential impact of ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charitable company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

In the view of the trustees, no assumptions concerning the future or uncertainty affecting assets or liabilities at the balance sheet date are likely to result in a material adjustment to their carrying amounts in the next financial year.

Income

Company status

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to income, it is probable that income will be received, and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

The company is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, registered address from 1 April 2021 is temporarily PO Box 72054, London, EC3P 3BZ, and returning to 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1AG) following the end of Covid-19 closure measures. It was incorporated on 11 April 2006 (company number: 05777831), (charity number: 1114900). The members of the company are the Trustees named on page 63. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect

Donations and legacies

Donations and gifts and are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when there is entitlement, probability of receipt and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

78

Gifts in kind

Gifts in kind represent assets donated for distribution or use by the charity. Assets given for distribution are recognised as incoming resources only when distributed. Assets given for use by the charity are recognised when receivable. Gifts in kind are valued at the amount actually realised from the disposal of the assets or at the price the charity would otherwise have paid for the assets.

Grants

Grants are recognised in full in the statement of financial activities in the year in which the charity has entitlement to the income, the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably and there is probability of receipt.

Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities is recognised as earned as the related services are provided. Income from other trading activities is recognised as earned as the related goods are provided.

Investment income

Investment income is recognised on a receivable basis once the amounts can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

All expenditure has been included under expense categories that aggregate all costs for allocation to activities. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular activities, they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of the direct costs of each activity. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Support costs have been allocated between governance costs and other support costs. Governance activities comprise organisational administration and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements. Costs include direct costs of external audit, legal fees and other professional advice.

Governance and support costs have been apportioned between all activities based on staff time and use of the resources.

Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

All assets costing more than £500 are capitalised.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:

Operating leases

Rentals under operating leases are charged to the Statement of financial activities on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease.

Benefits received and receivable, such as rent-free periods, as an incentive to sign an operating lease are recognized on a straight-line basis over the noncancellable contracted term of the lease in line with FRS102.

Employee benefits

Reprieve contributes to a group personal pension scheme, the assets of which are administered by Aviva. It is a defined contribution scheme. All contributed costs are accounted for on the basis of charging the cost of providing pensions over the period when the charity benefits from the employees’ services. The charity has no further liability under the scheme.

VAT

In common with many other charities, Reprieve is not registered for VAT and the charity’s expenses are inflated by some VAT, which cannot be recovered.

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

Financial instruments

The Charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the company and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the company for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

80

2 Donations and legacies

Income from charitable activities continued

Total Funds
2021 £		 Total Funds
2020 £
1,322,258
175,881
23,465
1,521,604
Total Funds
2020 £
133,499
49,751
31,000
-
-
66,000
-
5,000
42,896
63,204
100,000
25,000
-
-
3,875
520,225		 Grants and donations: Total Funds
2021 £		 Total Funds
2020 £
Death penalty (DP)
American Bar Association
Bertha Foundation
Clifford Chance
Cornell
CRH Trust
European Commission
Evan Cornish Foundation
Foreign and Commonwealth Offce
G R Waters Charitable Trust
Garden Court
German Federal Foreign Offce
Highway One
HMRC JRS GRANT
Joseph Rowntree Trust
Lush
Open Society Institute
Postcode Lottery
Reprieve US
Role UK
Sounouyergon Foundation
Swiss FDFA
Sigrid Rausing Trust
The Nuhanovic Foundation
The David and Elaine Potter Foundation
The Law Society Charity
Tolkien Trust
Vital Projects Fund
Other grants (below £2,000)
Total		 1,137
9,547
25,160
23,775
404,947
10,000
141,413
-
4,000
(180)
10,000
2,437
39,813
250,000
47,748
7,312
11,606
-
100,000
22,500
5,000
95,000
23,487
8,909
1,243,611		 -
14,000
49,751
7,037
5,000
320,872
10,000
121,267
31,000
-
89,232
10,000
-
7,000
5,000
103,027
250,000
63,204
2,350
12,285
6,173
100,000
5,116
25,000
4,000
-
12,793
6,875
1,260,982
Donations
Tax claimable on gift aid donations
Other corporate donations
Total		 1,452,699
182,503
68,662
1,703,864
3 Income from charitable activities
Grants and donations:
Total Funds
2021 £
Promotion of human rights in counter-terrorism (ACT)
Bertha Foundation
114,362
Clifford Chance
25,160
G R Waters Charitable Trust
-
CRH Trust
5,000
HMRC JRS GRANT
2,437
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
50,000
Joseph Rowntree Trust
18,096
Lush
-
Open Society Institute
18,267
Reprieve US
47,748
Roddick Foundation
47,077
Sigrid Rausing Trust
100,000
The David and Elaine Potter Foundation
22,500
Tolkien Trust
95,000
Vital Projects Fund
-
Other grants (below £2,000)
9,371
Total
555,018
Total for all grants and donations 1,798,629 1,781,207

82

4 Other trading activities

Total Funds 2021 £ Total Funds 2020 £ Speaker fees and book royalties 3,069 3,221

5 Investment income

Total Funds 2021 £ Total Funds 2020 £ Bank interest 3,545 5,806

6 Cost of raising funds

Direct costs
Support costs
Staff costs
Total		 Total Funds 2021 £
146,487
50,090
178,752
375,329		 Total Funds 2020 £
171,529
42,092
138,986
352,607

7 Charitable activities
Direct costs
Support costs
Staff costs
Total		 DP
2021 £
730,183
268,346
1,012,247
2,010,776		 ACT
2021 £
327,315
145,492
617,396
1,090,203		 Total Funds
2021 £
1,057,498
413,838
1,629,643
3,100,979		 Total Funds
2020 £
1,135,534
353,147
1,469,626
2,958,307
Prior year comparative fgures
Direct costs
Support costs
Staff costs
Total		 DP
2020 £
884,704
246,553
934,117
2,065,374		 ACT
2020 £
250,830
106,594
535,509
892,933		 Total Funds
2020 £
1,135,534
353,147
1,469,626
2,958,307

8 Analysis of support costs

Fundraising
2021 £		 DP
2021 £		 ACT
2021 £		 Total Funds
2021 £		 Total Funds
2020 £
Premises
IT
Offce
Staff costs & associated costs
Governance
Total		 2,251
2,006
9,914
31,345
4,574
50,090		 12,061
10,748
53,111
167,924
24,502
268,346		 6,539
5,827
28,796
91,045
13,285
145,492		 20,851
18,581
91,821
290,314
42,361
463,928		 24,262
34,750
9,074
287,956
38,197
395,239
Prior year
comparative fgures
Premises
IT
Offce
Staff costs & associated costs
Governance
Total		 Fundraising
2020 £
2,690
3,701
966
30,667
4,068
42,092		 DP
2020 £
15,758
21,677
5,661
179,629
23,827
246,552		 HRACT
2020 £
6,814
9,372
2,447
77,660
10,302
106,595		 Total Funds
2020 £
24,262
34,750
9,074
287,956
38,197
395,239

9 Governance costs

Audit and accountancy fees
Other Direct cost
Staff costs
Total		 Total Funds
2021 £
20,460
2,586
19,314
42,360		 Total Funds
2020 £
15,180
3,064
19,953
38,197

84

10 Net income/(expenditure) for the year

2021 £ 2020 £
This is stated after charging
Depreciation of tangible fxed assets:
- owned by the charity 27,324 17,326
Pension costs 82,835 80,879
Auditors’ remuneration
- audit services (excluding VAT) 13,800 11,850
- other services 900 3,100

During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration (2020: £Nil) or any benefits in kind (2020: £Nil). During the year, no Trustees were reimbursed expenses (2020: £Nil).

11 Staff costs

11 Staf costs
Staf costs were as follows:
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Total		 2021 £
1,795,601
197,167
82,835
2,075,603		 2020 £
1,789,646
195,962
80,879
2,066,487
The average monthly number of employees
during the year was as follows:
Charitable activity
Death Penalty (DP)
Promotion of human rights in counter-terrorism (ACT)
Raising funds - fundraising
Support
Total		 2021 No.
22
12
4
6
44		 2020 No.
20
10
3
6
38

12 Tangible fixed assets

Ofce
equipment £		 Furniture
& fttings £		 2021
Total £
Cost
At 1 January 2021
Additions
At 31 December 2021		 144,378
46,512
190,890		 1,582
-
1,582		 145,960
46,512
192,472
Depreciation
At 1 January 2021
Charge for the year
At 31 December 2021		 117,505
27,324
144,829		 1,582
-
1,582		 119,087
27,324
146,411
Net Book Value
At 31 December 2021
At 31 December 2020		 46,061
26,874		 -
-		 46,061
26,874
13 Debtors
Debtors
Grants receivable and other accrued income
Trade debtors
Tax recoverable on gift aid
Rent deposit
Prepayments
Other debtors
Total		 2021 £
186,117
1,782
41,100
13,041
82,673
-
324,713		 2020 £
119,990
-
39,972
45,566
43,973
1,100
250,601

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Two employees (2020: two) received remuneration within the banding £60,000 to £70,000 in the year.

Remuneration for Key Management Personnel

Reprieve considers its Executive Directors, Team Directors and Deputy Directors to be key management personnel. The total remuneration, benefits and pensions paid to them in the year was £474,215 (2020: £489,549).

Creditors
Trade creditors
Other taxation and social security
Other creditors
Funds held as Agent
Accruals & deferred income (see below)
Total		 2021 £
69,785
55,585
16,735
-
430,534
572,639		 2020 £
39,697
50,351
114,176
36,740
634,641
875,605

86

15 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

Creditors
Deferred income (see below)
Total		 2021 £
100,000
100,000		 2020 £
200,000
200,000

Deferred income as at 31 December 2020 totalled £728,611 of which £528,611 was released to income in 2021 and £200,000 remains deferred as at 31 December 2021 forward into 2022. Deferred income as at 31 December 2021 totalled £420,000, of which £100,000 is to be released to income in 2023, and the balance of £320,000 relates to the next financial period.

16 Statement of funds

Brought
forward 2021 £		 Income
2021 £		 Expenditure
2021 £
Transfers
2021 £		 Carried
forward 2021 £
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Restricted funds
Casework
OMCT
German Federal Foreign Offce
Reprieve US
Bertha Foundation
EC Project
Individuals
Postcode Lottery
Foreign Commonwealth Offce
Clifford Chance
OSI
Other restricted funds
Advocacy
Donations from individuals
Total Restricted funds		 1,416,347
1,161
-
-
-
47,997
-
(759)
-
-
-
-
-
48,399		 2,192,592
-
47,077
95,496
123,909
404,948
22,400
148,725
50,319
250,000
58,079
163,564
24,000
1,388,515		 (2,071,683)
(759)
-
-
(47,077)
-
(95,496)
-
(123,909)
-
(427,829)
-
(22,400)
-
( 146,383)
759
(50,319)
-
(245,569)
-
(58,079)
-
(163,564)
-
(24,000)
-
(1,404,625)
759		 1,536,497
1,161
-
-
-
25,116
-
2,342 -
-
4,431
-
-
33,048
Total of funds 1,464,746 3,581,107 (3,476,308) 1,569,545

17 Statement of funds continued

Statement of fund movements
for the prior year		 Brought
forward 2020 £		 Income
2020 £		 Expenditure
2020 £
Transfers
2020 £		 Carried
forward 2020 £
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Restricted funds
Casework
OMCT
German Federal Foreign Offce
Reprieve US
Bertha Foundation
EC Project
Individuals
Postcode Lottery
Foreign Commonwealth Offce
Clifford Chance
OSI
Other restricted funds
Advocacy
Donations from individuals		 1,323,296
1,161
-
6,656
-
21,740
-
-
-
35,980
31,819
43,170
-
140,526		 1,819,931
-
89,232
126,407
147,499
320,872
30,735
250,000
123,617
99,502
145,924
136,119
22,000
1,491,907		 (1,726,880)
-
-
-
(89,232)
-
(133,063)
-
(147,499)
-
(294,615)
-
(30,735)
-
(250,000)
-
(124,376)
-
(135,482)
-
(177,289)
-
(179,289)
-
(22,000)
-
(1,584,034)
-		 1,416,347
1,161
-
-
-
47,997
-
-
(759)
-
-
-
-
48,399
Total of funds 1,463,822 3,311,838 (3,310,914)
-		 1,464,746

Restricted funds

Casework – Reprieve’s Casework Programme provides legal and investigative help to prisoners held on death row in Guantánamo Bay or in secret prisons worldwide. We focus our resources on cases which are likely to lead to strategic changes in the law and which expose systemic flaws on the administration of justice.

Advocacy – The Advocacy programmes covers work done by our fellows worldwide. Our fellows work on the full range of Reprieve’s projects and are based in Indonesia, Pakistan, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and the USA.

88

18 Analysis of net assets between funds

Restricted
Funds 2021 £		 Unrestricted
Funds 2021 £		 Total Funds
2021 £
Tangible fxed assets
Current assets
Creditors due within one year
Creditors due in more than one
year
Total		 -
33,050
-
-
33,050		 46,061
2,163,073
(567,639)
(100,000)
1,541,495		 46,061
2,196,123
(567,639)
(100,000)
1,574,545
Tangible fxed assets
Current assets
Creditors due within one year
Creditors due in more than one
year
Total		 Restricted Funds
2020 £
-
298,399
(250,000)
-
48,399		 Unrestricted
Funds 2020 £
26,874
2,215,078
(625,605)
(200,000)
1,416,347		 Total Funds
2020 £
26,874
2,513,477
(875,605)
(200,000)
1,464,746

19 Pension commitments

The Charity operated a defined contribution scheme for its employees making a contribution of up to 5% of the gross salary. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charity in independently administered funds. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the Charity which amounted to £82,209 (2020: £80,879). Contributions totalling £nil (2020: £1,887) were payable to the fund at the balance sheet date and are included in other creditors.

21 Related party transactions

The Charity received a total of £42,519 (2020: £42,135) in donations from trustees in their personal capacity, none of which remains outstanding at the balance sheet date.

The Charity received £10,000 (2020: £11,000) from the Hollick Family Foundation. Lady Sue Woodford-Hollick is a trustee of the Hollick Family Foundation and was a trustee of the Charity until April 2020 and is now an ambassador.

The Charity received £10,000 (2020: £25,000) from the Laura Kinsella Foundation. Stephen Kinsella is a trustee of the Laura Kinsella Foundation and of the Charity.

At 31 December 2021 an amount of £nil (2020: £300) was included within debtors in relation to a staff loan to the Executive Director.

There were no other related party transactions in the current or previous year.

22 Funding provided by Reprieve to Reprieve US

Reprieve US is a public charitable organisation with section 501(c)(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code. It is a fully independent legal entity, with its own board and staff in the US, and with strategic objectives that mirror those of the Charity (referred to below as Reprieve UK for clarity).

Reprieve US works with Reprieve UK and independently on projects and cases, to litigate on behalf of victims of human rights abuses, to communicate and raise awareness of the issues on which Reprieve UK and Reprieve US campaign, and to raise funds for this work from US sources.

In 2021, Reprieve US provided a sub grant to Reprieve UK for £75,649 (2020: £126,407). This was to directly employ a staff member in London working in the operational team, and to fund a proportion of the salary and on-costs of specific Reprieve UK personnel commensurate with their contribution to the services essential to the functioning and work of Reprieve US. This was fully spent in this year and we carried forward £nil (2020: £47,997).

20 Operating lease commitments

At 31 December 2021, the company had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:

follows:
Offce premises
Expiry date: 2021 £ 2020 £
Amounts due < 1 year 137,138 33,500
Between 2 and 5 years 468,554 -

The charge to the Statement of Financial Activities in 2021 is £79,997 (2020 £128,682).

23 Comparative statement of financial activities

Notes Restricted
funds £		 Unrestricted
Funds £		 Total
2020 £
Income from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Death penalty (DP)
Promotion of human rights
in counter-terrorism (ACT)
Other Trading activities
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising Funds
Charitable activities
Death Penalty (DP)
Promotion of human rights
in counter-terrorism (ACT)
Total expenditure
Net (expenditure)/income
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds at 1 January
Total funds at 31 December		 2
3
3
4
5
6
7
7
10
16,17		 52,735
1,083,822
355,350
-
-
1,491,907
135,441
1,085,005
363,588
1,584,034
(92,127)
-
(92,127)
140,526
48,399		 1,481,154
164,875
164,875
3,221
5,806
1,819,931
217,166
980,369
529,345
1,726,880
93,051
-
93,051
1,323,296
1,416,347		 1,533,889
1,248,697
520,225
3,221
5,806
3,311,838
352,607
2,065,374
892,933
3,310,914
924
-
924
1,463,822
1,464,746

PO Box 72054, London UK, EC3P 3BZ • 02075538140 • info@reprieve.org.uk @reprieve

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