International Rights Advocates

The litigation team at IRAdvocates is committed to helping victims of human rights abuses achieve the justice that is owed to them. All team members have extensive experience in the human rights litigation field.

Staff

Terry Collingsworth, Executive Director/General Counsel

Natacha Thys, Associate General Counsel

Rebecca Pendleton, Legal Assistant

TERRY COLLINGSWORTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/GENERAL COUNSEL

Mr. Collingsworth is a labor and human rights attorney specializing in trade and international labor rights issues. He has been General Counsel of the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) since 1989. He was made Executive Director of the ILRF on September 1, 2001. In April 2007, the litigation practice of ILRF became the International Rights Advocates (IRA). Mr. Collingsworth’s primary activities at IRA are directing the IRA’s litigation, developing legislative proposals to regulate labor rights in the global economy, building coalitions with other groups to address human rights and labor rights issues in international forums, and researching conditions for workers in developing countries. On behalf of Burmese victims of forced labor, he initiated a landmark case under the Alien Tort Claims Act, John Roe III et al v. Unocal Corporation et al, seeking to hold Unocal liable for human rights violations that occurred during the construction of its gas pipeline in Burma . He has filed similar cases against Coca-Cola, for allowing the murder and torture of trade union leaders at its bottling plants in Colombia , Exxon Mobil, for human rights violations of its military security forces in Aceh , Indonesia , and Del Monte, for using paramilitary thugs to torture leaders of the banana workers union in Guatemala . Mr. Collingsworth also was instrumental in establishing the RUGMARK program, a unique system of certifying that hand-knotted carpets are not made with child labor that also sponsors education programs for former child workers. He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law, and has published numerous articles on labor rights issues.

NATACHA THYS, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

Ms. Thys serves as IRA’s Associate General Counsel, where she engages in litigation efforts to hold multinational corporations accountable for human rights abuses. Ms Thys joins IRA after seven years as ILRF’s Associate General Counsel, and as the Director of ILRF's Rights for Working Women Campaign. Prior to joining ILRF in 1999, she worked with the National Treasury's Employee Union (NTEU) representing federal workers, and with Unite for Dignity, a project of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organizing nursing home workers in Miami , Florida Previous to these positions, Ms. Thys was an associate with the Law firm of Gagliardo & Zipin representing Plaintiffs in employment cases involving discrimination, sexual harassment, wage and hour, and occupational health and safety. Ms. Thys is a 1996 graduate of the American University, Washington College of Law.

REBECCA PENDLETON, LEGAL ASSISTANT

Ms. Pendleton serves as IRA’s Legal Assistant, where she supports the litigation efforts of International Rights Advocates (IRA). Prior to joining IRA, Ms. Pendleton worked as a Legal Assistant with the Global Migration Group at Baker & McKenzie LLP. Ms. Pendleton also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia and has volunteered with a number of human rights organizations, including Task Force for Central America, Borderlinks, and Amnesty International. Ms. Pendleton is a 2000 graduate of Stephens College . She is fluent in Spanish.

Interns

Gwyneth Hesser
Yanal Yousef

Volunteers

Janzel Abuel