The International Human Rights Network (IHRN) is a non-governmental organisation and a not-for-profit company established in the Republic of Ireland and in Uganda. The Network is not itself a funding organisation. The core team:

Karen Kenny (LLB, Barrister, DES) Director
kkenny@ihrnetwork.org

Karen Kenny is an international human rights lawyer who has served as UN human rights advisor in peacekeeping contexts as well as serving the Security Council’s Commission of Experts as war crimes investigator (El Salvador, former Yugoslavia and Rwanda). Since 1995 she has advised UN agencies, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Commission, governments, as well as NGOs and the private sector regarding human rights based approaches. Appointed as an expert member of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs Standing Committee on Human Rights since 1997, she is honorary research fellow in the University of Nottingham's Human Rights Law Centre. She is author of numerous reviews of law and practice and co-founded and co-Directed the International Human Rights Trust from 1996-2003.

Patrick Twomey (BCL, LLM, Barrister) Director
ptwomey@ihrnetwork.org

Patrick Twomey joined the Network from November 2003 having served as Co-Director of the University of Nottingham, Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) 1997-2003. He was called to the Irish bar in 1990 and has lectured in law at Durham, Liverpool and Nottingham Universities as well as at a range of human rights summer schools. While at HRLC he directed a number of programmes, including Independent Monitoring of Human Rights in Russia (1999-2003) and Ukraine Criminal Justice System Reform (1998-2003). He is Co-Editor of the Human Rights Law Review and member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Migration and Law. He acts as advisor on human rights based approaches for a range of actors, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, other UN agencies, the European Commission and bi-lateral development funders.

Siobhan Cummiskey (LLB, LLM) Researcher (part-time)
scummiskey@ihrnetwork.org

Siobhan holds a LL.B. from the University of Dublin, Trinity College and graduated with distinction from the University of Nottingham with a LL.M. in Human Rights Law.  Before joining the Network, she worked with Vigil India Movement, a national human rights organization based in South India and with the Legal Aid Department of Malawi.  Prior to this, Siobhan worked as a legal intern at the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre and at Article 19 in London.  Siobhan is a qualified US attorney and volunteers with the Free Legal Advice Centre and with Amnesty International Ireland.  Siobhan is currently working as a Senior Lecturer in Human Rights Law at Griffith College Dublin and is a registered researcher with the Irish Human Rights Commission.

Shane Kelleher (LLB, LLM) Researcher (part-time) skelleher@ihrnetwork.org

Shane Kelleher is a Solicitor and Researcher working on the the IHRN Iraq Programme since 2004. Shane is currently pursuing a Masters in International Human Rights Law Programme at the University of Essex, UK, where he is also providing research assistance to the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health. He holds a law degree with French law (University of Thames Valley) and a Diploma in European Studies (University of Toulouse, France). Shane chaired Amnesty International's LGBT Network in Ireland from 2001 to 2003 targeting human rights violations based on sexual orientation. Previously he worked as an Associate Partner at William Fry Solicitors in Dublin, with the European Commission's Prague Delegation and with the Czech Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs and the Czech National Training Fund. In 2005, Shane worked as Comparative Human Rights Law Fellow with Adalah, the Arab Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.

Dr. Tom Obokata(BA, MA, LLM, PhD) Researcher (part time)

He teaches as Lecturer in Law at Queens University Belfast since 2006.Tom holds a BA in International Relations (Southern California), MA in Human Rights (Essex), and LLM in International Criminal Law (Sussex) and a PhD (University of Nottingham). He completed his PhD thesis on trafficking in persons at the University of Nottingham in 2005. He has previously taught at the University of Dundee and worked as a law clerk for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Office in Japan and the Republic of Korea (1999-2000). 

Mary Davila (BA) Administrator
Info@ihrnetwork.org

Mary Davila joins the Network as a graduate in languages from Trinity College Dublin, and previously was lecturer in languages at the University of Navarra and the Navarra Chamber of Commerce, Department for International Relations.