Expert Contributors

Dima Moussa

Dima Moussa is a US-licensed lawyer with over 15 years of experience as a legal professional. She started focusing on Syria in 2011 and has worked as a consultant with several international and Syrian human rights, non-governmental, and political organisations. Ms. Moussa has extensive experience working on Syrian justice programs, including conducting assessments of local justice actors and institutions, legal frameworks, and law enforcement, with additional focus on constitutional, human rights, and gender issues. Ms. Moussa’s expertise also includes project management and organisational development and capacity building. Ms. Moussa is fluent in Arabic and English.

Dr. Dina al Shafie

Dr. Al Shafie has been working with asylum seekers and refugees who suffer from torture, sexual violence, and other ill treatments for almost 20 years. Her work was giving therapy and medication to start with and forming group therapies and from 2004 she started training on mental health issues that refugees can face due to war and displacement.

Dr. Al Shafie is a fluent Arabic and English speaker and comes from Egypt and the UK.   She was the first one to manage a psychosocial centre in a legal international NGO that dealt with legal Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA).

Dr. Al Shafie is an expert in training doctors, lawyers, and judges on the Istanbul Protocol and other related fields.  Dr. Al Shafie trained in UNHCR, UNODC, Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), MSF, Physicians for Human Rights, Synergy for Justice, Amideast, doctors from Egyptian governorates, and other NGOs.

 She worked as the staff psychiatrist for Médecins Sans Frontières for seven years. Some of the staff were refugees, they themselves had suffered from psychological issues due to displacement, loss of family members due to war, conflict, and torture. 

She is also an expert witness in the MENA region where she writes expert witness reports to legal firms all around the world,  http://www.refugeelegalaidinformation.org/egypt-coi and is a member of the Justice Rapid Response roster. She has dealt with children who have been subjected to domestic violence, depression, and other psychological issues.

For the past four years, Dr. Al Shafie has trained Iraqi and Syrian doctors, lawyers and judges on victim survivors, how to obtain psychological evidence of torture and sexual violence, mentoring moot courts, and investigating crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

Dr. Al Shafie is the Chairman of the Board of Directors in Maadi British International School in Cairo, Egypt. https://www.mbisegypt.com/about-us/history-governance-of-mbis/our-board . It is recognised amongst the most prestigious British Curriculum international schools in Egypt, North Africa and the Middle East. It received the Penta International Awards 2021. 

Dr. Al Shafie has a Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage studies from University College London. 

Judge Keith Raynor

Judge Keith Raynor is a Circuit Judge at Leicester Crown Court and specialises in domestic and international criminal law.

In England he presides over trials in cases including attempted murder, sexual offences, gang and serious organised crime, drugs, fraud, money laundering and firearms offences.

He has served in posts in international criminal law. He is the former Vice President of The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. He previously served as an international prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia from 2012 to 2014, trying former senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He also investigated war crimes in Iraq with the Iraq Historic Allegations Prosecution Team (IHAPT) .

From 2004 to 2015 he worked as a criminal law barrister, including defending and prosecuting cases in the UK and undertaking defence work at military courts.

He is on The Advisory Council to Guernica 37 Chambers in London and Madrid and on The Advisory Council of The International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) in Stockholm and deployed in 2016 with a team of experts to undertake a study of the justice system in Syria.

He is called on regularly to deliver practical training in domestic and international criminal law, principally in designing and delivering mock criminal law trials for prosecution and defence advocates and judges. Recent work has concentrated on assisting UNODC and CEELI with remote video court hearings during the coronavirus pandemic and judicial case management and international criminal law training with mock trials in Beirut and Baghdad and wildlife prosecutions in Tanzania, and marine piracy cases in Somalia/The Seychelles.

Morgane Landel

Morgane has 20 years of experience working in domestic and international criminal jurisdictions and on rule of law and access to justice, with a special focus on gender, sexual and gender-based violence, and domestic violence.  

Morgane practiced domestic and international criminal law for 10 years. She started as a criminal defense lawyer in London representing legal aid clients. She then joined various international prosecution teams as an investigator, legal officer, and trial attorney. She worked on prosecuting crimes against humanity, genocide, terrorism, and organized crime in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Lebanon. At the same time, Morgane volunteered with various organizations to support the rule of law in Colombia and Syria. She provided training and expert support to document human rights violations. 

Since 2013, Morgane has focused on working with survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Asia and the Pacific. She designed and managed projects on increasing women survivors' access to justice. In order to support holistic solutions, she provided technical assistance on judicial strengthening, policy and legal reform, access to support services for survivors, capacity building of all justice service providers and awareness raising for survivors. 

Some years ago, Ms. Nadine Tunasi fled the war in her country, the Democratic Republic of Congo to seek asylum in the UK where she has become an advocate and a writer, raising awareness of torture, sexual violence, and other human rights issues. Ms. Tunasi began volunteering at the African Swahiliphone Refugee Project helping asylum seekers through translation, referrals to lawyers, and helping to organise health promotion events in the community, such as HIV awareness-raising. She has also worked in the office of MP Jeremy Corbyn, helping constituents to resolve issues related to asylum and housing.

Ms. Tunasi also joined the Survivors Speak Out Network (SSO) to advocate against the use of torture worldwide, educate the public about its effects, and campaign for its eradication. Ms. Tunasi has spoken at different events organised by Amnesty International and various universities including, the Stand Speak Rise Up against Sexual Violence conference in Luxembourg, and she has co-facilitated workshops (including for the UK Foreign Office’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative) on issues that survivors of sexual violence face, both in the UK and around the world.

Recently, Ms. Tunasi worked with the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) providing expertise on survivor-based approaches for the drafting of the Murad Code. She also provided key expertise on access to justice and pathways for survivors for Synergy’s development of an anti-stigma assessment toolkit for criminal justice systems.

Ms. Tunsai is currently working for Freedom from Torture, coordinating SSO events, and leading its policy for survivor inputs and contributions.  She is also a member of one Strong Voice, the first UK network coalition of lived experience of the immigration and asylum system.

Dr. Rosado is an American Board of Pediatrics board-certified child abuse pediatrician with over 20 years of experience as a consultant in the areas of child abuse and over 10 years of experience in the documentation of ill-treatment to children in asylum and refugee cases.

Dr. Rosado graduated from Universidad La Salle School of Medicine in Mexico City, Mexico. In 2000, he completed a residency in Pediatrics at Sinai Children’s Hospital in Chicago and served as its Chief Resident. He became Board Certified in General Pediatrics in 2001 and in Child Abuse Pediatrics in 2009. Dr. Rosado has been working in the field of child abuse for over 20 years.

In 2000, Dr. Rosado joined the Child Protective Services Team at Sinai Children’s Hospital and served as its Medical Director from 2002 to 2005. In 2004, he joined the Division of Child Protective Services at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center where he started doing medical evaluations for children seeking asylum in the United States. In 2010, he worked as a Consultant Pediatrician for the Child Protection Team at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2013, Dr. Rosado started working with the Division of Child Abuse Pediatrics at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago where he serves as its Interim Division Head since 2020.

At Lurie Children’s Hospital, Dr. Rosado co-founded the Forensic Assessment for Immigration Relief (FAIR) Clinic. The FAIR Clinic is a staff-run clinic dedicated to providing forensic   medical and psychological evaluations to child and adolescent survivors seeking asylum in the United States. Staffed by child psychologists and a child abuse pediatrician, the FAIR Clinic is the only one of its kind in Illinois.

Dr. Rosado serves as a member in the Midwest Human Rights Coalition’s (MHRC) Steering Committee of the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Member-At-Large of the Executive Committee of The Ray E. Helfer Society. Dr. Rosado has trained many medical providers, law enforcement personnel, and social workers in the fields of child abuse and the documentation of ill-treatment to children seeking asylum in the United States. In November 2022, Dr. Rosado was retained as a consultant and trainer for Synergy for Justice to conduct trainings on forensic medical evaluations for child survivors of torture and sexual violence for Syrian physicians. Dr. Rosado is bilingual and bicultural in Spanish and English.

Philomène is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Allied Health at Liverpool John Moores University. She is project lead for their Resource Hub for professionals who support asylum seekers, refugees and migrant populations, and also leads the Humanitarian Champions programme for this group. Philomène has been a registered mental health nurse since 2006, holds an MSc in Public Health (International Development), and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. through published work. She has experience working in primary care and public health, and in particular with programmes to increase life expectancy and promote health and well-being for people seeking asylum, refugees, and other migrants.  

Dr. Ricardo Restrepo-Guzman

Dr. Restrepo-Guzman is a psychiatrist interested in the field of cultural psychiatry and human rights, and he currently manages a substance abuse and mental health program that he developed at the Long Beach VA Hospital. Ricardo holds an academic position as Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California (Irvine and Riverside) School of Medicine and most recently at the Charles Drew University, Los Angeles.

He is actively involved in issues related to transcultural psychiatry and addictions. He has worked with immigrant populations in the United States for over 20 years. As a volunteer psychiatric expert, he has participated in projects in the United States, Latin America and the Middle East. He has been a United Nations Consultant since 2005 and has participated actively in the implementation in Mexico and in Colombia of the Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, also known as the Istanbul Protocol.

He is a member of Synergy for Justice and actively involved in training and mentoring Middle Eastern doctors to document torture and sexual violence for justice processes. Dr. Restrepo has written chapters on addiction and for human rights textbooks. He is the co-author of textbooks on substance use disorder as well as women’s health and addiction, and he cooperated with the Translation of DSM-5 to Spanish. He is board re-certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry and a professional musician.

Dr. Restrepo completed medical school at the Instituto de Ciencias de la Salud in Medellín, Colombia. In 2003, he completed his residency training in Psychiatry at Boston University Medical Center, and then obtained a fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry from the same institution. In 2008, he received a Master’s degree in Global Public Health from New York University. He is board certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry.

Judge Robert Hettleman

Judge Robert Hettleman has over 20 years of experience as a prosecutor, consultant and judge in the areas of child abuse and child welfare, domestic violence, sex crimes, and international criminal law. He served as a prosecutor in New York City for 17 years and was the Chief of the Child Abuse Unit. There, he investigated and prosecuted cases of child abuse, domestic violence, and sex crimes, including homicides, cybercrimes, and trafficking. From 2014-2018, he was a New York State Family Court Judge, where he presided over cases of (1) juveniles accused of crimes and (2) allegations of child abuse and neglect. From 2018-2021, he and his family lived in the Middle East, and Robert returned to serving as a Judge in New York in April 2021.

Robert has taught law school courses on these topics in the United States and internationally. He has worked closely with and helped train law enforcement, medical and mental health providers, child welfare and foster care organisations, community groups, computer and technology experts, lawyers, and judges. He has served as an expert and consultant in the US, the Middle East, Asia and Africa in the areas of criminal law, child abuse, sex crimes, domestic violence, working in settings of conflict and torture, and the fairness and biases of criminal and family court systems. Through the United Nations, he also assisted the judiciaries of Mozambique and Kenya to improve their handling of wildlife trafficking and biodiversity crimes.

Robert has proudly consulted for Synergy for Justice and LDHR for many years, including teaching and training doctors and lawyers in Turkey, presiding over annual mock trial exercises, and designing guides and materials.

Dr. Rusudan Beriashvili

Dr. Beriashvili has worked in the field of Forensic Medicine since 1996. She graduated from Tbilisi State Medical University and received a PhD in Forensic Medicine in 2003. Since 2003 she has been an Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine. In 2009-2011 Dr. Beriashvili was the Head of Forensic Biology and the Head of Forensic Medicine at the National Forensics Bureau of Georgia. 

Since 2004 Dr. Beriashvili has been actively involved in the Istanbul Protocol Implementation Project in Georgia. She participated as an International Trainer in Prevention and Documentation of Torture in several professional trainings in Georgia, Egypt, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Jordan, Iraq, Armenia, Thailand, Ukraine. Dr. Rusudan Beriashvili is a member of the International Forensic Experts Group of IRCT. 

Dr. Rusudan Beriashvili is the Secretary General of Georgian Forensic Medical Association, a member of Forensic Science Society (FSS, UK), a member of DNA Working Group of European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (DNAWG ENFSI), a member of European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG), a member of International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (IAC&ME), a member of International Academy of Legal Medicine (IALM).

Ruth Montgomery

Ruth is a justice and policing strategy and engagement specialist with broad national and international experience in building organisational structures, strategies, policies and practices.  Her primary focus is on building organisational capacity and individual capability to lead and deliver human rights based, accountable, inclusive services that keep people safe and build public trust and confidence. 

Ruth has worked with Canadian federal, provincial and local governments, police associations, NGOs, police agencies and public safety education organisations. Internationally, she has worked in over 20 countries with UN organisations, international development organisations, governments, and justice and police organisations.

Ruth is a former police Superintendent. She holds an MA in Criminal Justice.

Triveni DeFries, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the University of California, San Francisco Department (UCSF) of Medicine. She is a physician who is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She completed medical school, residency and fellowship training at UCSF. She practices primary care and addiction medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. She co-directs the UCSF Human Rights Clinic where she performs forensic medical evaluations for people seeking asylum in the United States and teaches learners and clinicians. She serves as the Director of Education & Training for the UCSF Human Rights Initiative. She co-founded the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative and has collaborated with Physician for Human Rights, Synergy and other experts to increase the capacity of clinicians to perform documentation of human rights abuses using trauma-informed care and the Istanbul Protocol. Her special interests are in immigrant health, human rights and addiction medicine.