Meet the Team

The UPRAN was founded by Dr Damian Etone, Dr Alice Storey, and Dr Amna Nazir. Meet the team below!

Dr Damian Etone is a Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at the University of Stirling (Scotland). He is Co-Director of the MSc Programme in Human Rights and Diplomacy run in partnership with the UN Institute for Training and Research.

His Research focuses on the Universal Periodic Review, the UN Human Rights System, African Regional Human Rights system & Transitional Justice. Damian has worked as a International Criminal Law Case Reporter for Oxford University Press and published over 10 case law reports for the OUP International criminal law series.

Dr Alice Storey is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Associate Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Birmingham City University, UK. Alice’s research focuses on the UPR mechanism and State engagement with international human rights, predominantly from the perspective of women’s rights and the abolition of capital punishment. Her published work has analysed the operation of the UPR, making suggestions on how the UPR can be strengthened in order for it to achieve its full potential. Alice’s current research is exploring how an intersectional approach to women’s rights within the UPR would strengthen the mechanism.

In 2018, Alice created the UPR Project at BCU, which was shortlisted for a Times Higher Education Award in 2021. Through the UPR Project, Alice and her colleagues engage directly with the UPR mechanism as a stakeholder, which has impacted upon multiple countries’ UPRs. Recently, after speaking as a panellist during Namibia’s UPR Pre-session, Alice was invited to consult with the Namibian government on their HIV healthcare strategies for women and girls.

Dr Amna Nazir is a Reader in International Human Rights Law and Associate Director of the Centre for Human Rights at Birmingham City University, UK. Amna’s research focuses on the UPR mechanism and Islamic law, both as separate and interlinked areas, exploring pertinent human rights issues such as capital punishment, freedom of religion, and women and children’s rights. She is also contributing to the enhanced understanding of human dignity in Islam with a specific focus on the use of the death penalty and its engagement with international law. She has been invited by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to advise the British government on their strategy for bilateral engagement in death penalty cases and has held an advisory role to several NGOs.

At the international level, Amna actively participates in the UPR through submission of stakeholder reports to selected states’ review, and engages in UPR Pre-sessions which provide an international platform to directly advocate to government delegations on countries’ human rights landscapes. Her work for the highly influential ‘UPR Project at BCU’ is regularly cited by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and was shortlisted for the national Times Higher Education Award 2021 for International Collaboration of the Year. Amna continues to provide expert submissions and consultancy work in the UN arena and has drafted a report to the Human Rights Committee on General Comment 36 dealing with the global standard on the right to life. She has also been ranked in the top two candidates for appointment by the UN Human Rights Council as the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.